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A LIFE 



RT- REV. EDWAED lAGINK 



COADJUTOR BISHOP OF DERRY, 



QdzttioxiB from §iB QTorresponbence* 

BY 

THOMAS D'ARCY M'GEE, 

A. Cr T II R OF 

* A HISTORY OF THE ATTEMPTS TO ESTABLISH THE REFORMATIOP; lit IRELArfD;" 
DISCOURSES ON "THE CATHOLIC HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA;" 
"THE IRISH SETTLERS IN AMERICA," ETC., ETC. 



'• It Is the duty of a Bishop to judsre, to interpret, io consecrate, to ordain, to 
olFer, to baptize, and to confirm.'" — Farm of Consecration of a Bishcrp according to 
ifi£ Latm Rite. 




P , O ' S 11 E A , 

739 BROADWAY AND 20 BEKKMAN STREET 
1857. 



^ 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 

P. O'SHEA, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States 
for the Southern District of New York. 



HIS SUKYIVING RELATIVES AND FRIENDS, 



'AT home" and abroad. 



3 3^je5pje-cHuIl2 ^t'^itntz Ifiis l^ljemo r 



THE LATE RIGHT REVEREND DR. MAGINN, 



BISHOP OP DERRY 



CONTENTS. 

Preface ,•..... vii 

CHAPTER I. 
Birth and Family of Dr. Maginn — His first Teacher — Studies at the 
Irish College, Paris — Ordained in Ireland — Appointed Curate of Mo- 
ville — Brief account of Innishowen — The Derry Discussion — Catho- 
lic Emancipation — Mr. Maginn appointed Parish Priest 1 — 39 

CHAPTER II. 
The Mission of the new Parish Priest — State of the Church in General 
— Local Exertions of Dr. Maginn — He suppresses Secret Societies — 
Founds Seven National Schools — His Controversy with the National 
Board of Education — His Increasing Influence — His Preaching as 
described by a Cotemporary 40 — 63 

CHAPTER III. 

O'ConnelFs last Efforts for Repeal — Mr. Maginn's zeal in that Agita- 
tion — His Correspondence willi the Marquis of Normanby — His 
confidence in O'ConneH's Triumph — His Elevation to the Episco- 
pacy — Congratulations thereupon — National Politics — His Opinion of 
the Young Ireland Party — His Success as an Administrator. .64 — 86 

CHAPTER IV. 
Dr. Maginn's Evidence before Lord Devon's " Commission on the Oc- 
cupation of Land in Ireland" — Frequent Maladministration of the 
Poor Law — The Famine and the Officials — His Indignation at the 
Destruction of Human Life — His incessant Efforts to relieve the 
Poor — Strongly opposes the proposed wholesale Emigration to Can- 
ada — Society for the Conservation of the Faith 87 — 103 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER Y. 

Dr. Maginn's Views of Church Polity in Ireland— The Charitable Be- 
quests Act — The Queen's Colleges — Differences of Opinion among 
the Hierarchy on the Colleges Act, as amended — Accession of the 
Whigs to Power — The New Pope — Episcopal Meetings in 1846 — 
The Appeal to Rome — Other Episcopal Movements — Proposed Na- 
tional Address to Pope Pius IX 104—120 

CHAPTER YL 

Pontificate of Pius IX. — English Intrigues in Italy — Lord Minto's 
Mission — Lord Shrewsbury's Yisit to Rome — Lord Clarendon's Pro- 
position to Archbishop Murray — The Irish Bishops, opposed to the 
Government scheme of Academical Education, send two of their 
number- to Rome — The Agents and Influences employed against 
them — Success of the Mission of Drs. MacHale and O'Higgins — Dr. 
Maginn's part in it — Insurrection in Rome — The Pope in Exile — El- 
oquent Pastoral of Dr. Maginn on that event — Its reception at Rome, 
and by the Holy Father 121—134 

CHAPTER YIL 

Influence of the Famine on Public Spirit — Dr. Maginn's Letters on 
'• Tenant-Right" — His Letters to Lord Stanley — His Popularity — 
Effect of the French Revolution on Ireland — Patriotic attempts to 
re-nnite the National Parties — The Protestant Repealers and Mr. 
Sharman Crawford, M. P. — Extraordinary Circular of the Earl of 
Shrewsbury — The Young Ireland Catastrophe — Dr. Maginn's Cor- 
respondence with the Castle in relation thereto — His sympathy with 
the Defeated Party and the State Prisoners 135 — 170 

CHAPTER YIII. 

Dr. Maginn's Final Visitation of his Diocese — The proposed Provin- 
cial Synod and Catholic L'uiversity — Dr. Maginn's last Illness and 
Death — General Sorrow expressed by the Catholic Body — His Fu- 
neral — His Character and Genius — Tributes to his Memory at Homo 
and Abroad 171 — 193 



CONTENTS. Vll 

The Devon Commission — The Rev. Edward Maginn sworn and exam- 
ined 195—211 

The Cork Tenant League — Letter to W. H. Trenwith, Esq. 212 — 218 
Letter to Dr. McKnight, of Derry 219—226 

POLITICAL CORKESPONDENCE. 

John O'Connell to Bishop Maginn 22V 

G. Poulett Scrope to «' 227—234 

Benevolence of the British People during the Irish 
Famine. — Bishop Maginn to Messrs. Hawkins, Jones and 

Gilmore 235—238 

Lord William Fitzgerald to Bishop Maginn 238 

Lord Normanby to " ^^ 239—241 

Rt. Rev. Dr. Briggs to " ^' 241—245 

Thomas Steele, Esq , to " " 245—251 

ROMAN CORRESPONDENCE. 

Archbishop Cullen to Bishop Maginn 251 — 261 

Rev. Dr. O'Higgins to " 261—265 

Archbishop Cullen to ^* 265—269 

Rev Dr. O'Higgins to " 269—271 

Archbishop Cullen to " 271—278 

Amended Statutes of the Queen's Colleges in Ireland, relat-^ 

ing to Religion 279—284 

Bishop iMaginn's Pastoral on the Pope's Exile 285 — 306 



PEEFACE. 

The restoration of her ancient Church, and the maintenance of its 
liberties against all the intrigues of the Imperial power, is the chief 
glory of Ireland in the XlXth century. It is quite glory enough ; it 
is a triumph without parallel in the ecclesiastical history of our times. 
That national churches (if the phrase can be correctly used by a Ca- 
tholic) may be extinguished in blood or destroyed by schism, the ec- 
clesiastical history of Western Asia, of Northern Africa, of some of 
the German States, of England, of Scandinavia, all instruct us. That 
the total extinction of the Irish Church was the darling design cher- 
ished by generation after generation of the greatest ministers of a great 
Empire, British history exists to prove. The heroic constancy of the 
Irish Catholics is tue very epic of chivalrous resistance to arbitrary 
power, and one of the freshest episodes in that epic, is the life of the 
late able and apostolic Bishop of Derry, which I have undertaken, at 
the request of his nearest surviving relations, to write. 

The part taken by that courageous churchman is much enhanced in 
importance by recollecting the Province in which it was played. Old 
Ulster had resisted " the Reformation" with iron fortitude, and had 
paid the penalty ; its six fair counties were confiscated by one stroke 
of the first James' pen ; its nine venerable cathedrals were given over 
to the new sectaries ; its once famous schools of Armagh and Bangor 
were overthrown and obliterated. Presb\^terian communities were 
chartered and privileged, to hold the passes and ports of the Province ; 
the Kirk, struggling for its existence in Scotland against kirgly theo- 
ries of conformity, was a recognized and favored step-child of the 
State from its first plantation in Ulster. Its rigid discipline and econ- 
omical ministry were not ill suited to a half mercantile, half martial 



X PREFACE. 

population, so fond of tlirift and of its profits, that they would almost 
begrudge to God the decorations of His temple. Its ministers, how- 
ever, sprung from the ranks of their own hearers, and bound to them 
b}^ the double ties of authority and dependence, have alwa^^s shown 
themselves in the day of danger in the front of the popular battle. 
Against King James II. they fought as in CromwelFs time, marshaled 
the multitude, and gallantly partook of all their dangers. It was a 
stirring and affecting sight, however we may view it — those two small 
towns standing out against a people in arms. They held out long 
enough to give King William an immense material and moral advan- 
tage, to demonstrate the military incapacity of King James, and to 
enroll their obscure names among the most famous localities of Irish 
or of Imperial stor^\* 

The silence of death succeeded the din of that dreadful struggle. 
The remnant of the natives who could not emigrate deserted the open 
country, and courted the safer obscurity of the remotest woods and 
glens. The only sound which breaks the fearful stillness is the din of 
an infant Trade within the walls of the victorious towns, the monoto- 
nous chants of the Kirk, or the imperative accents of the garrisons. 
From monkless Mellifont to dismantled Donegal, there is neither native 
church nor native chief. The Erne and the Bann flow on through 
peaceful valleys — peaceful as death. In the halls of Dungannon, upon 
the towers of Shane's Castle, there is neither warder nor servitor, nei- 
ther hospitable nor martial fire, neither sound of harp nor clang of 
trumpet. Nothing remains for the protection of the hapless remnant 
of the Gael, outlawed on their own soil, but the fame of their strug- 
gle, or the wild vengeance of the maddened Kaparee, pouncing by 
night on his long-watched Presbyterian prey. Neither Scot nor Saxon 
fully believes his own boast that the spirit of the old race is broken. 
The cautious drysalters and cordwain^rs of Derry, making their way 
in cavalcade from town to town, put up at every turn in the road the 
timorous petition, *' From wolves and woodkerne, good Lord deliver 
us!" 

This fearful and chilling peace gradually gives way to one more 
stirring and lifelike. Both parties multiply and grow stronger — the 

* One of the preliminary measures of tlie Defenders of Derry in 16S9 was to tiirE 
tlie few Catholics out of the town, together with a Convent of Dominicans, lately 
tolerated within the walls.— Db. K. CAWE'siJACOBiTB and Williamith Wars, Paet I. 



PREFACE. Xi . 

natives most quickly. As the Protestant population increases in num- 
ber and wealth, so does its power and pretensions. The Parliament 
fosters its linen trade with bounties j the State Church connives at its 
non-conformity ; the Sovereign enlarges its charters. Plain old Derry 
becomes Londonderry, a royal regiment is named after Enniskillen, 
and the "Apprentice Boys" annually jflatter themselves that they, and 
not the British Whigs, made the Revolution. Jaundiced egotism be- 
comes Orangeisra, for in worshipping the deliverer they glorify them- 
selves — a ceremonial they cultivate to their hearts' content. From 
every northern steeple, on the 1st and 12th of July, the yellow flag is 
spread and the church bells ring out; from every loyal terrace, loud 
guns proclaim the invidious triumph of the favored few over the land- 
less many, On those days the enthusiasm of the pulpit in the morn- 
ing prepares men's minds for the enthusiasm of the tavern at night. 
Panegyrics on bloody deeds delivered in the name of religion, stimu- 
late to those deeds of blood, without which the night seldom passes 
away. Some poor stray Papist or obnoxious neighbor is often the se- 
lected aim for an undischarged musket and a drunken bigotry. Still 
the descendants of the victors of 1689 have not had everything their 
own way in Ulster these many years back. The older population 
multiplied in virtuous poverty, and learning economy in adversity, 
spread gradually back into the fields of their fathers and the towns of 
their enemies. They toiled, they bore, they suffered much. The value 
of labor rose in the Province with the increase of its staple trade ; that 
trade expanded into a commerce, that commerce gradually liberalized 
those engaged in it. The borderers of the two races partially inter- 
mixing, or at least reciprocally influencing each other, produced that 
powerful compound character known in the United States as " Scotch 
Irish," which asserted its individuality not less conspicuously at Phil- 
adelphia in '76 than at Dungannon in '82. But the majority of each 
kept apart, and till this day continue apart, separated by a hostile his- 
torical inheritance, by deep-seated social disparities and irreconcilcablc 
religious differences. 

The policy of the chief governors of Ireland at last yielded a par- 
tial toleration to the Catholics. Thatched chapels succeeded to dri[»- 
ping caves, and the precarious pilgrimage of the poor scholar gave 
place to the more regular and respectable education at Maynooth. 
I'rom tlie political fountain of the capital, the new and juster spirit 



Xll PKEFACE. 

spread slowly over the provincea. The landed proprietors of the sec- 
ond and third generations, having the fear of the grim Sir Phelim no 
longer before their eyes, began to rival in prodigalit}^ the old chiefs 
they had displaced, and whose praises were still sung around them. 
The tuneful Jacobite, Thurlogh O'Carolan, was a guest as welcome at 
Moneyglass and Castle Archdale as at Alderford or Castle Kelley. 
The new lords of Cavan and Fermanagh were proof to his politics but 
not to his melody ; they might dislike him as a Catholic, but they 
were proud of him as a countryman. The fairest hands in their halls 
brought the matchless harp and filled the consoling cup for the Bard, 
whose errant ways and blinded eyes aptly illustrated the mental con- 
dition of a country where the old civilization had been extinguished 
before the new one was born, whose altars were down, whose tradi- 
tions were lost, whose ancient paths were obliterated, and for which 
there seemed no escape, no deliverance out of the vicious circle of 
clear-headed injustice and incapacity entailed. Socially, the new gen- 
try had grown more tolerant and tolerable, but politic ally, as the 
last years of the Irish Parliament proved, they hated the religion 
of the vast majority of their fellow countrymen as intensely as ever 
did the Walkers and the Wolseys during the war of King Wiliam and 
King James. 

In this Province, in this state and period of society, about the com- 
mencement of the Catholic Restoration, the late Dr. Maginn's lot was 
cast. He was born of an orthodox stock 5 he grew up among a gal- 
lant and pious, but rash and much-abused peasantry ; he retired 
from amongst them for a time, to reappear again with the highest au- 
thority upon their altars. We will see him planning and laboring in 
lakebound Innishowen, and within the walls of ^' the maiden city," as 
Priest and Leader, for a quarter of a century. All who have patience 
to peruse — 

" Tlie short and simple annals of the poor,'* 

will witness how truly he approved himself the father of his flock. 
His public spirit, his moral courage, his thorough identity with the 
country, his fervid eloquence, his unwearied industry, his application 
to details, made him, in some sort, the judge and legislator of his 
people. His external influence was limited by his enjoyment of the 
episcopal dignity to three short years. Yet in these three years he 
undoubtedly did arduous and honorable things, never sparing mind 



PEEFACE. Xlll 

or body, purse or person, where duty called or conscience pointed. In 
the prime and height of his life, he sank suddenly into the grave, la- 
mented by his own nation, and regretted by all those throughout 
Christendom who take any interest in the Catholic affairs of Great 
Britain and Ireland. 

Of the works and days of this excellent person, I have told in the 
following pages all I could giean, from the very interesting papers 
committed to me for that purpose, by the surviving members of his 
family. 



New York, St. Bridget's Day, 1857. 



LIFE OF RT. KEY. EDWARD MAGIM. 



CHAPTER I. 

BIRTH AND FAMILY OF DR. MAGINN — HIS FIRST TEACHER STUDIES 

AT THE IRISH COLLEGE, PARIS — ORDAINED IN IRELAND — APPOINTED 
CURATE OF MOVILLE — BRIEF ACCOUNT OF INISHOWEN — " THE 
DERRY discussion" — CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION — MR. MAGINN AP- 
POINTED PARISH PRIEST. 

At the beginning of tlie present century tliere lived 
in the parish of Fintona, county Tyrone, Ireland, a Ca- 
tholic farmer named Patrick Maginn. He married in 
early life Mary Slevin, by whom he had already seven 
children, when, on the 16th day of December, 1802, an 

eighth was born to them. To this child they gave in bap- 
tism the name of Edward. 

The Maginns and Slevins were commonly spoken of, 
in that country, as ^' levitical families." For many gcne- 

1 



2 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINIs". 

rations each had given Priests to the altar, and teachers 
to the collegiate chair. When the dense clouds of the 
penal days rested on Ulster, the youths of those houses, 
unterrified by the cheerless prospect of such a life, trav- 
eled to the continent to store their minds with divine 
knowledge, and to fit themselves for Holy Orders. Our 
subject's granduncle, Eev. Patrick Maginn, was for fifty- 
three years Parish Priest of Monaghan ; his uncle, Eev. 
John Maginn, was Parish Priest of Fahan and Deserte- 
gny for forty years, and in his latter days Archdeacon of 
Derry ; another uncle of Maginn' s died a Priest in France, 
having obtained the degree of Doctor of Sorbonne at a 
very early age. Among his maternal relatives, vocations 
were equally common. It is sufficient to mention Eev. 
Patrick Slevin, Pastor of the ancient Dromore, and Dr. 
Nicholas Slevin, one of the first and most eminent Pro- 
fessors of Maynooth College.^ The blood of these two 
favored famihes, rich in holiness, was destined to meet 
and mingle in the capacious heart and brain of the future 
Bishop of Derry. That the name he bore and the tradi- 
''^\ tions which made it so dear, exercised a powerful influ- 
ence on the whole career of Edward Maginn, we may 
infer fi:'om the glowing words of the letter to Lord Stan- 

* A third uncle Slevin, after finishing his ecclesiastical studies in the 
Irish College at Eome, fled from the city on the seizure of Pope Pins 
VI, by the French. He subsequently became a Medical Doctor, an;l 
" was considered one of the most universal scholars of his day."— Xfv- 
ter of the Rev. P. Devlin, of Buncrana, 



'^> 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWAKD MAGINI^. 3 

ley in vindication of the Confessional, wliicli lie wrote in 
the second last year of his life. Speaking of the loyalty 
of "confessing Catholics" to the Stuarts generally, and 
to Charles II. in particular, he demands: — "Who, my 
lord, was among the first to welcome the royal refugee to 
the shores of France? — an Irish friar, my own name- 
sake, afterwards chaplain to the queen-mother, Henrietta. 
The hard earnings of a long life, which he kept by him 
for the pious purpose of educating for the holy ministry 
his proscribed race at home, on bended knees, with the 
generous devotion of an Irish heart, he poured into the lap 
of poor exiled royalty. So much, my lord, for an Irish, 
denouncing, confessing, secret-keeping Christian friar. The 
same was afterwards the founder of the Irish College of 
the Lombards, which supplied Ireland for centuries with 
priests and martyrs, who kept the faith, and mark you, 
my lord, loyalty alive, in spite of the united efforts of 
the powers of darkness and of your non-confessing Chris- 
tians to exiinguish both." This generous "Irish friar" 
is further stated to have been " one of his own family,""^ 
and we will by-and-bye see the author of this tribute to 
his virtues, enjoying the fruits of that far-seeing charity 
which provided, in the evil days, a school for the educa- 
tion of outlawed Irish students in the capital of France. 

While yet a child of four years old, the parents of 
Edward Maginn removed from Fintona to Buncrana, ou 

* Letter of Rev. John McLaughlin, of Derry. 



4 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN". 

tlie romantic shore of Longli Swilly, and at the same 
time he became domesticated with his granduncle, the 
aged Pastor of Monaghan. At the knee of that venera- 
ble teacher, spoken of as ''one of the most accomphshed 
scholars and gentlemen of lib time,""^ he learned his first 
lessons. He had for a fellow-pupil, and retained as a 
life-long friend. Dr. McNally, the present Bishop of Clo- 
gher. It is hardly necessary to remind the Irish reader 
that in these comparatively recent days the houses of 
Priests and Bishops were the only Diocesan seminaries, 
their masters the only teachers of postulants for the 
Priesthood, and the well-worn school-books which had, a 
century earlier, served the purposes of one generation, 
survived to supply the wants of a second and a third. 

The 3^oung Maginn, after seven or eight years with his 
Monaghan uncle, rejoined his parents in Innishowen, 
and pursued his studies until his sixteenth year with a 
Mr. Thomas McColgan of Clonmany, near Buncrana, a 
graduate of the University of Paris. Fortunate, but not 
singular in that singular land, was his lot in meeting 
with such a teacher ! In that stormy region where the 
song-bird gives place the greater part of the year to the 
sea-bird, and the deep boom of the minute-gun is a fre- 
quent sound by night, who would have looked under 
the thatch of an Innishowen cabin, for a graduate of Pa- 
ris? Yet so it was. The honored " master'^ who taught 

Letter of Rev. Philip Devlin, of Buncrana. 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 5 

in that sea-side lint had won many a prize in the halls 
of the most famons University of Enrope. He had la- 
bored in the mine of the ancients and in the depths of 
the sea of science for ten long years, until his eye grew 
wild and his memory clouded and confused. Subject to 
occasional fits of insanity, he could not, of course, be 
admitted to Holy Orders, and as the most suitable second 
choice, he chose the part of a classical teacher in his na- 
tive regions, where the reverence of the poor was his 
best protection. In his enthusiasm for learning, which 
survived every shock and battle of the brain, he might, 
without much extravagance, have fancied himself ano- 
ther Fintan of Moville, from whom the new Saint Co- 
lumba, in the person of the docile, eager, spotless youth 
of Fintona, was to imbibe all human and divine learning.''^ 
At the age of sixteen, our subject left Ireland for Pa- 
ris, and entered the Irish College, on the maintenance 
known in that institution as ^^ the Maginn bourse." The 
College was then presided over by the Eev. Dr. Eyan, 
who styles himself " Administrator of Irish ecclesiastical 
establishments in France." Of its faculty were the Abbe 
Kearney, Avho, with the better known Abbe Edgeworth, 
had escorted the unfortunate Louis XVI. to the scaffold, 
and whose reminiscences of the first revolution, when he 

* Mr. McColiTjan "could reckon among his students almost all the 
distinguished clergy of Derry and the neighboring dioceses ; among 
ohem the late Dr. Montague, President of Maynooth College. — / ettcr 
jf Rev. P. Devlin, before quoted. 



6 MFE OF EIGHT BZV. EDWAP.D ^lAGIXX. 

chose to indulge in therrL are pronounced by a recent 
\mter to have been most ample and interesting * 

The Irish College at Paris possesses many claims to 
the aftectionate remembrance and respect of all Irishmen. 
Originally founded with the sanction of the exiled Stuarts, 
under the auspices of the Bourbons, it was necessarily a 
very loyal and legitimist institution. It possessed, from 
the accident of its location, a patriotic as weU as a royal- 
ist influence. Every Irish soldier in the service of France 
some time or other came to see its inmates ; every Irish 
tourist, especially if a Catholic and a patriot, was desirous 
to be introduced to its feculty. In its library were de- 
posited some valuable relics of our Celtic hterature, car- 
ried abroad in the Jacobite exodus^ and destined to be 
resorted to. after many days, by such zealous students as 
tne A: :r AIcGreoghegan and the Chevalier O'Gorman. 
In 1792 it shared the fete of all the ecclesiastical institu- 
tions of France — was confiscated and closed; with the 
consent of the Consuls it was reopened as a secular acad- 
emy, having the Abbe McDermott for principal, and Eu- 
gene Beauhamais and Jerome Buonaparte among its 
scholars. T_ : is were wholly unlike those designed 
for its inmates by the original founders. The practice 
of religion had not yet " been tolerated," Voltaire and 
BoQseau were more read than sacred history. On the 

* " Reminiscences of an Emigrant MUesian," (Se\r York, Appleton 
& Co., 1855.) p. 247. 



LIFE OF EIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 7 

restoration of tlie Bourbons this school was fully restored, 
and lias ever since remained sacred to theological studies. 
Its importance in that respect, to the insulated church it 
recruited and sustained in the worst of times, can hardly 
be exaggerated. 

In this College the young Maginn spent seven labori- 
ous years. Of the facu.lty at that time very little is 
known, except that they were frequently changed. The 
first class of students was small, bu.t several of them 
were afterwards distinguished. Dr. O'Higgins, subse- 
quently Bishop of Ardagh, was among the Professors ; 
Archdeacon Hamilton of Dublin, Dean Gaflfney of May- 
nooth. Dr. Kirby, and Dr. Maginn were students. As a 
scholar, Dr. Maginn was remarkable for ardor and appli- 
cation, frequently sitting up all night to conquer a diffi- 
culty."^ The usual theological treatises he mastered 
easily, but his curiosity would seem to have led him both 
in classics and history far beyond the prescribed range 
of acquirement. In the years 1823, '24 and '25, he re- 
ceived successively from the hands of ]\ronseigneur Louis 
Hyacinth de Quelen, Archbishop of Paris, tonsure and 
minor orders ; but his health failed him in the last named 
year, and he was not immediately ordained Priest. From 
the same cause he declined the earnest invitation of the 
Bishop of Meaux, to accept a benefice in his diocesc.f 

* Letter of the Rev. J. McDevitt, of Culdaff. 
t Letter of the Rev. J. McLaughlin, of Derry. 



8 LIFE OF RIGHT BEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 

His ill health contimiing, he left Paris, in June, 1825, for 
his native 'country, bringing vrith him a highly honorable 
testimonial, addressed to the Et. Rev. Peter McLaughlin, 
of Derry. '^His conduct," wrote Dr. Ryan, "has been 
most exemplary, and his talents conspicuous." 

On visiting his uncle. Professor Slevin, at Maynooth, 
the latter strongly recommended his return to Paris, to 
contest a chair in his Alma Hater ; but the Bishop whose 
subject he was, took a diflerent view of liis duties — ^raised 
him to the Priesthood the same year (1825) and appointed 
him to the curacy of Moville, on the Lough Foyle side 
of Innishowen. 

The barony of Innishowen covers that remarkable 
peninsula of the north of Ireland, flanked by Lough 
Swilly and Lough Foyle, and terminating in the lofty 
double landmark of Dunaff and Malin Head. If Ulster 
may well be called the most persecuted Province of Ire- 
land, Innishowen may contend for the honor of being 
the most persecuted portion of Ulster. A natural mili» 
tary base, easily occupied and supplied from the sea, it 
plays an important part throughout all the religious wars 
of Ireland. Culmore, on the opposite entrance to the 
Foyle, Derry, at the head of the harbor, and the several 
strong castles of Innishowen, were ^utal points of attack 
and defence for twenty years of Elizabeth's reign. Its 
hardy population adhered, through that imequal contest, 
to the gallant Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell, the joint 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 9 

leaders of the Catliolic forces. Tlie minute-guns of the 
storm-tost Armada echoed among their rocks and caves, 
and when, at last, nothing was left the veteran Tyrone 
but ignoble submission or sudden flight, it was from 
Lough Swilly he sailed away in search of aid from alhes 
whose policy he had served, but who refused, in turn, to 
subserve his. In this same rocky angle- of the north, in 
the reign of King James I., the youthful Sir Cahir O'Do- 
herty rose, at the head of his clansmen and kinsmen, in 
1608, to resist the wholesale confiscation of the Province. 
For five months he was completely successful, driving 
Sir Greorge Paulet from Derry, and seizing Culmore ; but 
in an unguarded hour, the bullet of a Scottish settler 
struck him down, and his disheartened followers dispersed 
to seek such safety as their fastnesses afforded them. 
This earher Emmett left a memory not less dear among 
his native hills and glens. Deserted by his young Nor- 
man wife in the hour of his adversity, a victim to the as- 
sassin's aim at three and twenty, his story was complete 
in all those romantic details which attract the fancy and 
take hold upon the hearts of a simple and intrepid peo- 
ple. Though their firesides, on long winter nights, had 
many another tale of Orange and Cromwellian conflict, 
the favorite topic, even still, is the death of Sir Cahir. 

The only other story of the scene which approached it 
in fearfulness of interest, was the martyrdom of a former 
Catholic Dean of Derry, — an incident we must let Dr. 
1 



10 LIFE OF BIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

Maginn relate in liis owii language. Addressing himself 
to Lord Stanley, in defence of tlie character of his peo- 
ple: — "I write to yon," (he says,) from a diocese in 
which, althongh there be in it 230,000 Catholic sonls — • 
more than twice as many as of any other creed — and also 
100 Priests instructing this number, there has never been 
hitherto, to my knowledge, a single murder of any pro- 
prietor. I write to you also from a parish where the 
Catholics are twelve to one, and where there has been 
much suffering among a Catholic population of 10,000 
spread over an area of 60,000 acres — all of course sava;ge 
Irish, or vermin, if you please ; and yet there has not 
been among them, in the memory of man, a single mur- 
der. The only one that tradition hands down to us is 
the murder of a parish Priest of this union, and Dean of 
the diocese of Derry, Dr. O'Hegarty. He was dragged 
from a mountain cavern — ^liis hiding-place by day (by 
night only could he appear in those times, commune with 
his flock, instruct the living, console the dying, and bury 
the dead), and was butchered on a rock on the banks of 
the Swilly, which shall ever be memorable from this 
bloody tragedy. The perpetrator of this murder was a 
Captain Yaughan, the son of an English colonel who 
served in the army of Oliver Cromwell (as Carlyle would 
say) of blessed memory. The good Captain believed he 
was doing the work of God, when imbruing his hands in 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIXN. 11 

the blood of Popisli Priests, as many now believe they 
are doing tlie same holy work in calumniating them." 

For such a people the young Missionary Priest was 
well qualified by nature and education. Enthusiastic by 
temperament, fearless in danger, no respecter of persons, 
of&cial or officious, an impassioned patriot, an ardent 
lover of the faithful peasantry, fond of oral controversy, 
of simple and accessible habits, well versed in the tradi- 
tions of the soil, partial to the ballads and the innocent 
amusements of his flock, he soon became the darling of 
the romantic old Barony. All his cotemporaries speak 
of his personal intercourse and his priestly labors, from 
the very beginning, with thorough admiration. ^' A se- 
ries of controversial sermons," writes one of these vene- 
rable men, "preached in the chapels of Moville, where 
he had been recently appointed curate, first brought him 
before the public. There it was I first saw him, and saw 
with admiration the boldness and self-reliance manifested 
even in the placards published to call the people together. 
I never heard any of those sermons, but from all I have 
heard from others they were probably his very best ef- 
forts."'^ "Here he continued," writes another, "until 
the year 1829. His labors, his zeal, his sermons during 
this interval were very great."f In the same strain 

* Letter of the Rev. C. Flanagan, of Coleraine. 
t Letter of tlie Rev. J. McLaughlin, of Derry. 



12 LIFE OF EIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 

speak all wlio knew and heard him in those days, while 
his scholastic armor was yet bright from the forge, and 
his maiden sword turned aside from no encounter, what- 
ever the odds arrayed against him. 

Between the years 1824 and '28, Ireland was visited 
by one of those angry squalls of controversy which 
spring lip so suddenly in the troubled recesses of the 
Protestant conscience, and rage for a season with such ir- 
rational violence. A formidable attempt was made — for 
the hundredth time at least^ — to overthrow the Church 
of Saint Patrick, and to establish the Church of England 
in its stead. The mistaken benevolence of English sec- 
tarians and the blinded zeal of the Irish landlords 
combined to supply the funds, and Exeter Hall furnished 
or equipped the missionaries. The principal of these 
were Captain Gordon, a descendant of the lordly rioter 
of 1780, the Eev. Messrs. Irving, Baptist Noel, McNeile, 
Stowell and Wolff — all English ; the Hon. and Eev. Sir 
Harcourt Lees, Eev. Mr. Pope, and Eev. Messrs. O'SuUi- 
van and O'Phelan, Irish. Among the Irish landlords. 
Lords Eoden, Lorton, and Farnham were their most 
active patrons. In the cities, the Corporators being ex- 
clusively Protestant, extended to them every indulgence 
and protection. To sustain the crusade with funds and 
tracts, *' Bible Societies" and "Eeformation Societies" 
were established in the principal cities of both kingdoms ; 
periodical returns were made and given to the public, 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINI^. 13 

witL. many confident assurances of the speedy conversion 
of Ireland. 

The Irish Prelates on whose dioceses these vaunting 
Propagandists first entered, forbade their clergy to meet 
them in public discussion. They reminded them that 
the doctrines of the Church were not, for Catholics, fit 
subjects of debate ; they cited the dictum of Saint Au- 
gustine to the Pelagians — Causa finita est; they showed 
there was no earthly tribunal to decide in such contro- 
versies, except that which the impugners at the outset 
ignored ; they therefore recommended that no notice be 
taken of the ostentatious challengers who paraded the 
country. This was the course recommended by the 
Archbishop of Armagh, by the Et. Eev. Dr. Doyle, the 
Et. Eev. Dr. Murphy, Bishop of Cork, and other Prelates. 
At Cork, the missionaries were encountered, not by the 
Clergy, but by 0' Council and Shiel, then in the heyday 
of their popularity and reputation. At Carlo w, the Eev. 
Messrs. McSweeney, Maher and others, felt justified in 
openly confronting them ; at Monaglian a few uneducated 
laymen — taken from the humblest of the peasantry — 
maintained the discussion, with amazing natural ability, 
for several days, and were finally awarded the victory 
by a bench of Protestant judges. In Cavan the mission- 
aries boasted of their highest success, while in Ulster, 
generally, they looked for ^' a walk-over." 

The rage for proselytism liad continued in Deny for 



14 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDY\'AED MAGIXX. 

t^vo or three years, and tlie Episcopalian gentry and 
clergy openlj^ proclaimed their triumph. The Cathohc 
Bishop, swayed by the reasons which had influenced his 
brother Prelates, recommended his Clergy not to notice 
the defiances daily issued to them. But the ckcumstances 
of the locality were peculiar, and considerations all-pow- 
erful elsewhere, were thought by many to be but second- 
ary in Derry. Four generations had passed away since 
Catholic and Protestant had combatted on that gTOund. 
The material ^uctory had been with the Protestant, and 
his descendants gloried in the inheritance of their con- 
quest. The descendants of the vanquished had multi- 
plied and regained a part of their old inheritance ; social 
ambition began to stir in their breasts, and it was no 
longer quite safe to treat them with indignity. There 
was need of a triimiph for them ; there was need of a 
lesson to the Ascendancy. The Bishop's Pastoral threw 
a gloom ujjon their path, and murmurs, not loud but 

" The Protestant ministers took occasion, from a slight incident at 
Maghera, between Rev. J. McKenna and Rev. Spencer Knox, to chal- 
lenge the Priests of this diocese to a public discussion, which chal- 
lenge Dr. McLaughlin prevented the Priests from accepting. The 
sensation produced in the minds of Catholics and Protestants by this 
prohibition, was snch as I would not wish ever to witness again, and 
rendered it imperative on every Priest who could open his mouth to 
come out in defence of the faith. This was an occasion such as Dr. 
Maginn loved, and the young preacher appeared in his glory."* 

* Letter of Lev. Mr. rianagan, of Ck)leraine. 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEV. EDWARD MAGINN". 15 

deep, were heard in every cliapel-yard. A Priest of the 
diocese, writing of that time, remarks : — 

The particular events which brought np this discussion 
are related in the Preface to the Authenticated Peport, 
pubhslied by Coyne (Catholic) and Currj^, (Protestant) 
booksellers of Dublin, soon after its conclusion. This 
introduction, so characteristic of the self-restraint imposed 
by the parties on themselves, deserves to be given una- 
bridged. It reads thus : 

"The causes which have given rise to any pubhcation, may in general 
be supposed to claim an interest in the public attention, commensu- 
rate, at least, to that which the work itself is calculated to produce. 
But in a more especial manner, those circumstances will surely not be 
thought unworthy of record, which have suddenly drawn forth, from 
the quiet walk of professional duty, so many Ministers of the long 
severed churches )f Rome and of Ireland, which have led persons, 
hitherto of retired habits, to stand forward in the public eye and ear, 
to contend on those great elements of faith and hope, on which they 
differ. In addition, however, to the desire ot gratifying a natural 
curiosity respecting the origin of the following discussion, the pub- 
lishers are anxious to give some statement on the subject, because the 
incidents connected with its commencement have impressed it with a 
character, and marked the conduct of it with peculiarities which, with- 
out this previous knowledge, it were difficult to account for. The sud- 
denness and unpreparedness with which the parties were drawn into 
this collision, have evidently deprived the discussion of that order, 
symmetry and proportion in the disposition of the subjects, which a 
little pre-arrangement could so easily have given to it. At the same 
time, this very defect of previous order and limitation of subjects may 
have been the means of presenting a more varied and interesting field 
of inquiry, and thus compensating the want of regularitj- l)y unfold- 
ing a more free and excursive view of the whole controversy. 

" The circumstances in which the discussion originated wore simply 
these. A public meeting having been called in the city of London- 



16 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD ^^lAGIXN. 

derry, by the Reformation Society, on Tuesday, the 11th of March, 1828, 
to consider the propriety of establishing a branch of the Society in that 
place. Captains Gordon and Vernon attended as a deputation at the 
conrt-house on the day named, for the purpose of carr3^ing this object 
into effect. A very large number of persons assembled, on the occa- 
sion, and among others, some of the clergy of the Established Church, 
favorable to the institution, and some of the Roman Catholic clergy of 
the city and neighborhood determined to oppose the formation of the 
Society, from a persuasion that the effect of its establishment would 
be evil. The consequence of all this was a very tumultuous assem- 
bly, insomuch that it was deemed advisable to adjourn the meeting 
until the next day, and then to limit the numbers admitted by issuing 
tickets, and charging a small sum on each. On the next day the high 
Sheriff, T. Kennedy, Esq., was called to the chair, in which, for sev- 
eral days, he continued most courteously, and to the satisfaction of 
all, to preside. ^Notwithstanding all the precautions, however, adopted 
on this day, a still greater crowd of persons seemed to have collected 
within the great hall of the court-house, in which a platform had been 
erected for the accommodation of the deputation and their friends, 
and as the same opposition was still given to the formation of the So- 
ciety, and on the same grounds, a similar scene of tumult to that on 
the preceding day was the consequence 

It was in the course of this very unpleasant conflict of opinion, that 
a charge having been thrown out by one of the deputation, and re- 
peated by one of the Protestant clergy present, as that the Roman 
Catholic clergy, in their opposition to the Society only wished to 
avoid discussion, a distinct declaration was made on their part, that 
their objection was to the formation of such Societies as that contem- 
plated ; but that if the question of the establishment of the Society 
were once disposed of, and the Protestant clergy were still anxious for 
discussion, the Roman Catholic clergy were ready to enter on it imme- 
diately. This was met on the part of the Protestant clergy by a frank 
and ready avowal that, as their only interest in the Society arose from 
the hope it offered of promoting such a discussion, they would wil- 
lingly accede to any arrangement of the kind. A motion to the above 
effect having been made by Dean Blakely, and put by the Chairman 
to the meeting, and the general feeling seeming to be in favor of the 
proposal, it was finally arranged that the meeting of the Reformation 



LIFE OF EIGHT EEY. EDWARD MAGIXN. 17 

Society be now adjourned sine die, and that a discussion on the re- 
spective merits of the two Churches should immediately commence 
between six of the clergy of the Church of Rome, and six of the 
clergy of the Established Church of Ireland. 

Protestants. — Rev. Messrs. Alexander Ross, William Smyly, Robert 
Collis, Mark Bloxham, Archibald Boyd, Robert Henderson, 

Catholics. — Rev. Messrs. Patrick O'Loughlin, Francis Quin, Alex- 
ander J. McCarron, Edward Maginn, ISTeal O'Kane, Simon McLeer. 

For the sake of order, it was agreed that each speaker 
should be hmited to three quarters of an hour, and that 
Protestant and Cathohc should be heard alternately. 
Accordingly Mr. Collis opened the discussion and Mr. 
O'Loughlin closed it. From the Court House it was ad- 
journed to the old Cathedral, which continued crowded 
for twelve successive days by men of all creeds, listening 
to arguments ^ro and con.^ on the Real Presence, on pri- 
vate judgment, on the canon of Scripture, on Purgatory 
and the marks of the true Church. Mr. Maginn spoke 
nine times during the twelve days, and on every branch 
of the subject. The S]3irit of the debate may be judged 
by a passage from the third day's discussion, in which 
Mr. Maginn, in replying to the Rev. Mr. Smyly's argu- 
ment of the day previous, said : 

*' What sayeth Christ 1 If he heareth not the Church, let him be unto 
thee as a heathen and a publican. 

" What sayeth Mr. Smyly and his law Church 1 Whosoever heareth 
the Church is even worse than those who are sitting in the darkness 
and in the shadows of death. 

" What sayeth Chiist 1 Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, and 
lo, I am with 3^ou £\11 days, to the consummation of the world. 



18 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINIT. 

"What sayeth Mr. Smyly and his law Church! Every man shall 
teach himself, and for fifteen hundred years and more, Christ has aban- 
doned his Church to the most superstitious practices and to the most 
damnable idolatry. 

" What sayeth Christ '? On this rock I Avill build my Church, and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

" What sayeth the Rev. Mr. Smyly and his law Church 1 The 
Church founded on a rock has yielded to the mouldering hand of time, 
and the powers of darkness have razed its very foundation. 

*' What sayeth Christ ] I shall send you another Paraclete» the 
Spirit of Truth, who shall teach you all truth, and remain with yon 
forever. 

" What sayeth Mr. Smyly and liis law Church 1 The Spirit of Truth 
has long since abandoned the Church's teaching to the spirit of lies and 
of error, and Satan, and not the Holy Ghost, even now sits at the helm 
of the religious bark, and guides it in the storm. 

"What sayeth Christ '^ Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whatsoever 
sins ye forgive they are forgiven them, and whatsoever sins ye retain 
they are retained to them. 

"What sayeth Mr. Smyly and his law Church ? It is rank blas- 
phemy to assert that any man has •eceived, or could receive, the power 
of forgiving or of retaining sin. 

" What sayeth Christ with respect to the Holy Eucharist! This is 
my Body, which is delivered for you, and this is my blood which is 
shed for you. 

" What sayeth Mr. Smyly and his law Church 1 'No, it is not your 
body, but the figure of your body ; it is not your blood, but the figure 
of your blood. 

" What sayeth Christ again 1 While the bridegroom is with them 
they should not mourn. But the day shall come when the bridegroom 
will be taken away from them, and then they shall fast. 

"What sayeth Mr. Smyly and his law Church! Fasting is a dead 
work, opposed to the all-sufficient merits of Christ, a Popish practice ; 
in a word, unworthy of the true believer. 

" What sayeth Christ by the mouth of his beloved Apostles 1 It 
seemeth good to us and to the Holy Ghost not to impose on you any 
other burthen than these necessary things, that you abstain from for- 
nication, and from things suffocated, and from blood. 



LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINJS^ 19 

*' What sayeth my friend Mr. Smyly and his law Church ! Absti 
nence from meats is the doctrine of devils and the suggestion of the 
spirit of lies. 

" What sayeth Christ by the lips of the Apostle of nations 1 He 
that marrieth doeth well, but he that marrieth not doeth better. She 
who is married mindeth the things how she may please her husband ; 
she who leads a single life caretli for those things how she may please 
her God and save her own soul, and she is not divided. 

" What sayeth the Rev. Mr. Smyly and his law Church 1 Whosoever 
marrieth not doeth evil; a vow of celibacy solemnly made before God 
and before man is not worthy of notice ; he that breaks it performs a 
meritorious act, while he who keeps it sinneth. 

" What sayeth Christ ! If you wish to enter into life, keep the com- 
mandments ; faith without charity availeth nothing ; love tlie Lord 
thy God with thy whole heart, and thy neighbor as thyself; do this 
and thou shalt live. 

*' What sayeth the Rev. Mr. Smyly and his lawChuichl Believe 
and you shall be saved, for by faith alone you are justified." 

On botli sides the most obsequious courtesy, backed 
with the most decided self-rehance, or rehance on the 
cause espoused, was exhibited. As evidence, we may 
give Mr. CoUis's closing remarks on the third day of the 
discussion. 

" My Roman Catholic friends, if wc could only, by the Spirit of God, 
put this truth into your hearts ; if we could get you to lean on Jesus 
Christ, and him alone, for salvation ; if we could get you to confide 
solely in that blood which cleanseth from all sin, then wouJd your 
fondly invented, expiating purgatory go to the wind, and we should 
liear no more of the sacrifice of the mass, indulgences, extreme unc- 
tion, prayers for the dead, and those other fond things unchristianly 
introduced, and which have no foundation or warranty in the Word 
of God ; then would tliei-c be an end of tliese and such like discussions 
among you forever. The doctrine of justification by faith alone, in 
the atoning righteousness of right, I now then propose, as the great 
feature and bulwark of Protestantism, in contradistinction to Ihe doc- 



20 LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD :MAGIXX. 

trine of human merit, works cf supererogation, <S:c., as taught by the 
Church of Rome. I say that ve Protestants put no trust in good 
works, as tending to justify the sinner, or to assist the atoning right- 
eousness of the Saviour ; why, sir. should we endeavor to light up the 
poor farthing taper of human merit, where we have the Sun of Right- 
eousness shining in meridian brightness in the Gospel. 

" The golden beams of the great luminary of nature are now shin- 
ing resplendent upon us, could we think of assisting the illumination, 
by putting a lighted taper on our table here ; would any of us think 
of holding up a candle to the sun \ But it may be said that by such 
statement of this doctrine, do we not open the door to licentiousness 
and immorality ? — I deny that we do; for the Protestant doctrine is, 
that the Spirit that gives faith also sanctifies : justification and sancti- 
fication go hand in hand in the Protestant system. Protestants do not 
look upon any as possessing the faith that justifies, unless this faith 
produces holiness. Such, then, are some of the leading and character- 
istic doctrines of Protestantism ; such are the striking features and dif- 
ferences of the two churches ; and I now appeal to you as thinking, 
rational, wise men, which of them should be considered as the true 
Church cf Christ, and which, as that which is schismatieal and heret- 
ical, and which has departed from the faith once delivered to the 
saints. I would now narrow the whole question within this one point: 
The Apostle Paul wrote an Epistle to the Romans. There was, my 
friends, a Church of Rome in Paal's day; not. indeed, the Church of 
Rome as she exists and is constituted now — for, alas I " how has the 
gold become dim, how is the much fine gold changed V The Church 
of Rome now-a-days existing has departed, we Protestants strenuously 
maintain, from the faith as preached to the Church of Rome by Paul 
in his day. "We Protestants will be satisfied to build our whole doc- 
trine on the Epistle of Paul to the Romans in his day ; and we declare 
that if we had only this one Epistle, we could derive therefrom what 
would refute Popery, and give the saving knowledge of the truth, as 
it is in Christ Jesus, to the soul. 

" If Popery stand the test of this Epiutle. and if Protestantism doth 
not stand it, we shall give up the question. 

*' To confirm and establish my positions here. I shall now beir leave 
to give a rapid outline of this Epistle, leaving it to your judorment, as 
scripturally enlightened, to determine whether my view of the Epistle 
be correct or not. 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 21 

*' The great design of the Apostle in. the Epistle to the Romans, is to 
show the need all mankind had of a righteousness to justify, the na- 
ture of that righteousness which justifies a sinner, and the consequences 
and results of embracing aud laying hold of such justifying righteous 
ness ; accordingly, in the first chapter the Apostle is principally occu- 
pied in showing that the Gentile world, by reason of their horrid 
wickedness and total moral apostacy, had need of this righteousness. 
In the second chapter and the opening part of the third chapter, he 
shows that the Jews, though possessed of greater external privileges, 
were just in as bad a way as to the attainment of an3^thing like a per- 
sonal justifying righteousness before God. In the latter part of the 
third chapter, he explains at large what that righteousness is which 
justifies the sinner ; even the righteOueness of Jesus Christ — his per- 
fect obedience unto death, as God manifest in the flesh, and which, 
being embraced by faith by the sinner, becomes his by imputation. 
In the fourth chapter Paul proves or evidences his doctrine by the 
case of Abraham as the father of the faithful, or the justified. In the 
fifth chapter he shows the consequence of embracing this doctrine, as 
relates to inward Christian experience, or the communication of peace, 
and joy, and hope to the believer. In the sixth chapter Paul shows 
that this blessed doctrine does not tend to licentiousness, as might at first 
sight appear, and as its enemies have ofttimes represented, but one di- 
rectly and necessarily tending unto holiness of life. In the seventh 
chapter he shows that the justified are renewed in the right spirit of 
their minds, yet are they, at best, but renewed in part ; that in the 
most regenerate there is, through life, a perpetual conflict kept up 
between the flesh and spirit. But though sin thus harrasses and op- 
presses them, yet doth it not condemn them, for they obtain the vic- 
tory over the body of this death through Jesus Christ ; so that, as is 
said in the opening part of the eighth chapter, there is now no con- 
demnation, and therefore no Purgatory, &c., for them that are in Jesus 
Christ, and who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. (Rom. 
viii. 1, &c.)" 

Strictly speaking, we have only to do with Mr. Ma- 
ginn, and to his part of the controversy we shall confine 
our extracts. 

On the fourth day Mr. Maginn, *'lcst his reverend 



22 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINX. 

friends should want employment during the remainder 
of the day,'' proi^osed to them the foUo^ving list of ob- 
jections: 

*' Queries. — First : How can the receiving of the tenths of the poor 
man's labor, be reconciled with that principle which is considered 
as fundamental in the Cliurch of England, viz, : — Tiiat ever}' man is 
capable of judging, and should judge for himself, on all occasions in 
religious matters ] 

'' Secondly : If the Bible, interpreted by individual reason, be 3'our 
sole rule of faith, why saddle us with the galling burthen of pampered 
and avaricious preachers and ministeis ■ 

" Tliirdly : If Protestants of al] denominations be one, as Mr. Smyly 
has stated, why brand with the name of schismatic, the Dissenter true 
to his principles 1 

" Fourthly : If Protestants of all denominations be one in faith, in 
hope, and charity, why set up conventicles apart! Wh}' do they wor 
ship in different temples 1 

' Fifthly : In the name of common sense, how can you a?sert that 
any man differing from you in opinion, is wrong — you, who admit 
that every man is right in judging for himself in matters of faith '? 

" Sixthly : On what principle would you refute an Arian or Socinian, 
who taking private judgment and Scripture for his sole guide, would 
interpret the following texts : — ' There is one Mediator, the 7nan Christ 
Jesus,' or * my Father is greater than I ;' of the non-consubstantiality 
or inferiority of the Son 1 

" Seventhly : How can you reconcile the universal apostacy of 
Christendom, as it is asserted in your Book of Homilies, with this per- 
petual truth — the unchanageable object in the symbol of a Christian's 
faith, viz. : ' I beheve in the Holy Catholic Church ;' or, as it is in the 
Xicene Creed, ' I believe in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church ? 

Eightly : The articles which separate you from your Presbyterian 
brethren, and from the Dissenters of all denominations — they are either 
essentials or non-essentials. If essentials, wh}^ have you the absurdity 
to state that you are one with them? If non-essentials, why, therefore, 
in the name of heaven, divide the peaceable inhabitants of the City of 
Sion 1 — Why tear .the seamless garment of Christ asunder, by causing 
hem for a non-adhesion to indifferent and nugatory articles, to retire 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIXN. 23 

branded with the name of excommunicated from youi law Church ! — 
* Whosoever shall separate themselves from the communion of the 
Saints, as it is approved by the Apostles' rules in the Church of Eng- 
land, and combine themselves in a new brotherhood, accounting the 
Christians who are conformable to the doctrines, government, rites, and 
ceremonies in the Churcli of England, to be profane and unmeet for 
them to join with in Christian profession, let them be excommuni- 
cated, &c.' — (Canon 9th.) 

" Tenthly : Why do you admit a supreme head in spirituals, whose su- 
premacy is not sanctioned by any warrant in the ^vritten Christian 
dispensation 1 

" Eleventhly : AVhy do you say, as you have said, that Scripture 
bears testimony to itself, when its author, Christ Jesus, says, that even 
his own living and established testimony of himself would be fruitless 
and vain. * If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true — you 
sent to John, and he gave testimony of the truth V — (St. John, chap. 5, 
ver. 31 and 33.) 

" How do you prove to this mixed assembly, that you are not guilty 
of the sin of Schism — a sin which the Apostle of nations testifies, ex- 
cludes from the kingdom of heaven — equally guilty, I repeat it, with 
the Arians, the Nestorians, the Euticheans. They also called themselves 
Reformers of the Church of Christ. They also separated themselves 
from the See of Rome. What they have done, you have done in like 
manner? — So much for the Queries." 

On these queries tlie subsequent discussion mainly 
turned. On the fifth day, Mr. Maginn gave utterance to 
the following noble words, in reply to the pseudo-pro- 
phecy that the Church would shortly perish : 

**My friend Mr. Smyly has told us that the Catholic Church, viz , 
the whore of Babylon, will shortly perish. In this prophetic cry of 
his, I recognize the language of the seers of past ages : ' The Catholic 
Church, says a Simon Magus, shall shortly perish, for she denies that 
the Holy Ghost can be purchased for money. The Catholic Church 
shall shortly perish,' says a Menander, ' for she is so absurd as to teach 
that I am not the light for the revelations of nations, nor the glory of 



24 LIFE OF EIGHT KEY. EDWAKD MAGINN. 

the people of Israel.' The Catholic Church shall shortly perish, says 
an Ebion and a Marcion, for she defends the blasphemous error of 
Christ being God, whereas he is no more than a mere man. The Ca- 
tholic Church shall shortly perish, says a Montanus and a Novatius, 
for she dares to assert that the pastors of the spouse of Christ have 
the power of forgiving all sins, even the sin of apostacy. That idola- 
trous Church shall perish, says an Arius, which makes the creature a 
creator, and has the boldness to assert that Word is eternal and con- 
substantial to the Father. The Catholic Church shall perish, says a 
Pelagius, for she admits that original sin is communicated to us, and 
that the faculties of man are weakened by inherited corruption — that 
of himself, without grace, he is incapable of observing the law of 
God. The Catholic Church shall perish, says Nestorius, for she ad- 
mits only one person in Christ, and reveres the "Virgin Mary as the 
mother of the living God. The Catholic Church, viz., the whore of 
Babylon, shall shortly perish, says an Eutyches, for she believes in 
the blasphemous doctrine of two natures in Christ, whereas there is 
only one, the human nature being absorbed in the divine nature, as 
the dewdrop disappears in the ocean. The Catholic Church shall 
shortly perish, says a Donatus, for she professes to believe that the 
children of heretics are not to be re-baptized, and that pastors in the 
state of sin can validly administer the sacraments. The Catholic 
Church shall shortly perish, says a Lucidus, for she rejects the neces- 
sary influence of grace. The Catholic Church shall shortly perish, 
say the Monatholites, for she admits two wills instead of one in the 
Redeemer. The Catholic Church, in fine, shall shortly perish, says a 
Gotescalus, for she admits predestination to good and not to evil ; she 
is so nonsensical as to deny that the will of man is like to a saddle- 
horse, doing evil necessarily if the devil be the rider, doing good ne- 
cessarily if God be seated on it. The Church shall perish, has been 
the language of every innovator from the days of Christ until the pre- 
sent day ; time, however, has proved them, and shall prove my rev- 
erend friend Mr. Smyly to be links in that chain of false seers to whom 
an angry God hath said, ' I have not sent you, yet you ran ; I have 
not spoken to you, yet you prophecied.' The Church has survived 
their fanciful predictions, and shall survive them until the end of time. 
The very nothingness of these near-sighted prophets has borne and 
shall bear testimony to her duration and stability ; yea, even the he- 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDVfARD MAGINN". 25 

retical cry, site shall si lortly perish ! has only served and will serve to 
convince the Avorld, by calling its attention to the miraculous preserva- 
tion of the Church ; that it is an edifice which God hath built up, and 
which no man can throw down, against which the winds and waves 
may beat in vain, around which, uninjured, the elements may crash, 
the heavens change as a garment, and all created nature tottering on 
its foundation, dwindle into its original nothingness ; God in the midst 
of her, she shall not be moved." 

On tlie sixtli day, one of tlie Protestant dispiitants in- 
troduced, in evidence of the corruption of tlie Cliurcli, a 
well known spurious work, called tke Taxce Gancellaricie^ 
in relation to whicli, on opening tlie seventh day's pro- 
ceedings, Mr. Magiiin said : 

^' Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, when an agreement had been entered 
into to discuss the .respective merits of the Churches of England and 
of Rome, I flattered myself that we would proceed calmly and dis- 
passionately to the investigation of truth ; I find, however, to my sor- 
row, that I have vainly indulged this hope, for the lowest scurrility and 
misrepresentation have taken the place of reason and of common sense ; 
forgeries and calumnies have been substituted for revelation, and Re- 
ligion's sacred name, with every kind of religious veneration, has been 
turned into a farce — has become a subject for mimickry and for mirth. 

'^ On seeing yesterday's exhibition, methought myself at one time in a 
Drury Lane or in a Covent Garden, witnessing the performance of 
Sheridan's School for Scandal ; at another time, I imagined myself in 
the Theatre Francaise, an amused spectator of a Talma in the Tartufte. 

" It was not, however, in all its scenes a comedy, it partook rather of 
the nature of a melo-drama. The audience, I am sure, was forced to 
smile and to weep : to smile at the folly which it displayed, while the 
tears of sorrow, yea, and of indignation too, were shed over the low 
designing malice — over the wily subterfuges of the hero of the piece, 
to support a bad and a tottering cause. 

^' The impression, I am convinced, which the introduction of the Taxae 
Cancellarise, that pretended Romish production, must have made on 
your minds, is to deep to be easily effaced. Long shall you remember 
1^^ 



26 LIFE OF RIGHT REY. EDWARD MAGINN". 

how lenient Popes were in the days of old towards parricides, how 
severe they have been towards priest strikers, 

" So gross an imposition as this booli is, were it not for the advantage 
of my Protestant fiiends, I would not even deign to notice. The abom- 
inable doctrines it contains, the abuses it appears to sanction, are too 
well known to Catholics not to constitute any article of their religious 
symbol, nor ever to have received the sanction of the Catholic Church, 
that they need no information on this head. For the instruction, there- 
fore, of my dissenting friends, and for theirs only, I shall first give you 
a few extracts from the celebrated Doctor Lingard, bearing on this 
subject, and invalidating its authenticity. I shall then give you my 
own reasons for consideriag it one of the vilest fabrications ever in- 
vented by interested, designing, and faithless men." 

After qnoting Lingard, and exposing the forgery of 
tliis book from internal eyidence, Mr. Maginn proceeded 
to defend the doctrine of purgatory as taught by the 
Church, ai:id expressly laid down in the 'Old and New 
Testaments. On the eighth day Mr. Henderson attempted 
an answer to that argument, but certainly failed to shake 
it m the least. He Yv^as followed by Mr. Maginn, the 
first part of whose address was devoted to an expla- 
nation of Luther's conduct, in permitting polygamy to 
Philip of Hesse, and the conclusion of which was a re- 
joinder to the attempted answer of the opponents of the 
doctrine of purgatory. On this day he excited a good 
deal of merriment, by referring the Eey. Mr. Smyly to 
his Eev. Bro. Henderson for ''the self-evident distinction 
which exists between mu-acles and mysteries." On the 
ninth day he continued the same subject — purgatory and 
prayers for the dead. 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 27 

On tlie eleventli day Mr. Maginn, with his accustomed 
readiness and humor, detected an argument on the wall 
of the old Cathedral in which the discussion was had. 
The authentic report thus relates the scene : 

" Again 5 I gladly congratulate my reverend opponents on their 
adopted image worship. [Here the Rev. Mr. Maginn espying behind 
the communion table, a Gloria having a small cross in the centre, with 
an inscription I, H. S., pointed to it.] There, Gentlemen, is an ' Idol 
which you have raised in the house of the living God,' with an in- 
scription on it too in an unknown tongue. You also have violated the 
second commandment ; you have made to yourselves the figures of 
things which are in the heavens above and in the earth below. You 
are accustomed in like manner to bow down before them. The idol, it 
is true, before which you worship, is void of proportion and coloring. 
Were you to adopt the motto, ^fas est ah hoste doceri,^ I would feel 
happy to recommend one to you, which, while it would evince your 
good taste, would tend at the same time to ornament your Church and 
to instruct your people. I would then advise you to place above your 
communion table, a picture representing a Jesus crucified, with the 
forefinger of his right hand pointing towards the Church depicted in 
the back ground, with this appropriate inscription, ^ this is my be- 
loved spouse, the Church, for whose sake I bleed, that I may render 
her without spot or wrinkle ; lo, I am with her all days, even to the 
consummation of the world.' In his left hand you may place, if you 
please, the keys of the kingdom of heaven 5 hard-by, St. Peter kneel- 
ing on his right knee and receiving them from him, while the Saviour 
will seemingly address him, as he has done really, in these words : 
^ Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates 
of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give to thee the keys of the 
kingdom of heaven ; whatsoever thou wilt bind in earth will be bound 
in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in 
heaven.' In the same tablet, by enlarging it somewhat, you may have 
the Virgin Mary and the twelve Apostles, with appropriate inscrip- 
tions. Opposite the blessed Virgin, '■ Behold your mother ;' opposite 
the Apostles, ' Behold your children.' Should the remaining parts of 
this Chapel of Ease require further useful ornament, I would rccom- 



28 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

mend to you to borrow a few saints from us, and have these side wall 
embellished by their representations. The amiable St. Francis of Sales, 
the zealous and apostolic Xavier, and the charitable St. Yincent of 
Paul, would be mighty lessons of practical virtue for the Sunday-sainted 
visitors of this house of prayer. They would remind them, that not 
only a Man-God, but weak mortals, like to themselves, scaled the rugged 
heights of a Calvary, drank of the bitter chalice deeply, yet patiently, 
made their works shine before men, were, in fine, the true disciples of 
the Just One, by ' taking up their cross and following him.' 

At tlie close of liis remarks, lie related tlie following 
anecdote : 

" A French general was induced through curiosity to come to the 
metropolis of Great Britain ; being invited by a certain nobleman of 
his acquaintance to visit St. Paul's Cathedral, as he was admiring the 
various perfections of that noble and majestic edifice, he was asked by 
his companion what he thought of it, and if he considered it superior 
to Notre Dame, at Paris. He answered that the shell of the building 
did honor to its projectors, that it was in many respects superior to 
Notre Dame, but that the religious embellishments of the latter much 
surpassed those of the former. When you enter, said he, into Notre 
Dame, at every step almost a crucified Saviour or his disciples meet 
your eye : here, said he, I see nothing but the vestiges of those devas- 
tators of the human race. Here indeed, said he, I see everything em- 
blemalic of the god of war ; there nothing is to be seen but the tro- 
ph}' of the God of virtue. Here I see the statues of those who con- 
quered by the effusion of the blood of their brethren ; there is to be 
seen the representations of those who triumphed through the blood 
of the Lamb, and died the victims of their benevolence. Plere, said 
he, I see those worldlings who prevailed by terror, by cunning, yea, 
perhaps by treachery too, and the violation of the sacred principles 
of faith, honor and justice over their less designing, more upright, and 
more virtuous neighbors. There you may see those saints who only 
vied in doing good ; who gained a victory, it is true, but it was with 
the sword of patience, with the helmet of salvation, and with the all- 
protecting shield of fraternal charity." 

On tlie twelftli and last day, lie made his ninth, argu- 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINX. 29 

ment. In opening for the Catliolics, lie tlins replied to 
tlie expressions of good will witli wliicli Mr. Boyd had 
opened on the other side. He said : 

"TJfr. Chairman : — My reverend friend, Mr. Boyd, opened this day's 
proceedings by stating that he had nought but good will towards 
Christians of every denomination ; I heartily concur with him in this 
charitable sentiment to which he has given utterance, and am glad to 
find that, though we widely differ in many other respects, our opin- 
ions on this head do perfectly harmonize. As far as I am concerned, 
I confidently assert that I would be a traitor to those principles whose 
truth I advocate, were I to bear any feelings of personal hatred to- 
wards any of my dissenting brethren. Compelled by circumstances 
to come forward and to defend, and give reason for that faith which is 
in me, I brought no animosity with me to this discussion, and I trust 
in my God that I shall bring none away with me from it. Weak as 
my understanding may be, I have sufilcient discernment between the 
man and his errors — sufficient acquaintance with the doctrines of my 
own Church to perceive that while, as a minister of tlie God of truth, 
I am called on to impugn falsehood, I am in duty bound to revere, re- 
spect and love the victims of delusion. In the Protestant communion 
I recognize man^^ of my warmest friends 5 the opposition of our re- 
spective tenets haAot hitherto, nor shall it, I hope, in fut^Are, tend to 
sever the ties of mutual benevolence and love>" 

After a few summarj^ remarks, he then returned to the 
queries he had advanced on the second dtfy^ and the re- 
plies they had elicited : 

^'The queries which I proposed at the commencement of this discus- 
sion, if I except a few to which Mr. Henderson has endeavored to re- 
ply, remain unanswered. I shall, therefore, propose them again, and 
having glanced at the evasive answers given to ten of the difficulties 
proposed, I shall leave them before the public. 

" Quer. First : Was it a figure of Christ's body which was delivered 
for us? Was it a figure of Christ's blood which was shod for us ? I^fr. 
Henderson answers and says, that it was a figure of Christ's body that 



80 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN". 

was given to us in the Sacrament ; but he denies that it was the figure 
of Christ's body that was delivered for us. In this, his reply, he ap- 
pears to me to contradict the express saying of the Redeemer, who in- 
forms us that that body which was given for us, was given to us. 

'^ Quer. Second : How, on Protestant principles, can this clear text, 
^tbis is my body,'' announced by Christ in peculiar circumstances, 
written in different Gospels, at different periods, and in the same words 
by three Evangelists, and by the apostle of nations, how, I say, can its 
literal meaning be invalidated, except by a clearer text, bearing on 
the same subject, viz. by such a one as the following : — ^ This, which I 
give unto you, is by no means my body ;' and where in sacred writ do 
we find this more clear and explicit text ? My reverend friend, Mr, 
Henderson, replies that that more clear and explicit text is to be found 
in Matt. 16 chap, 29 v., where it is called after the consecration, the 
fruit of the vine ; and by St. Paul to the Corinthians, chap. 11, 26 v., 
where the Sacrament is also called bread after the Benediction. His 
answer, however, does not appear to me sufficient, for first, according 
to St. Luke, 22 chap. 18 v., the fruit of the vine there spoken of, was 
the wine drank with the paschal lamb. Moreover, even were I to ad- 
mit that Christ Jesus called it the fruit of the vine and bread, after 
consecration, it would by no means make against the Catholic doctrine, 
nor serve my reverend friend ; for in many passages of sacred writ do 
we find the thing transubstantiated, called after the name of the thing 
from which it had been transubstantiated 5 as fq||example, in the 2 
chap, of Genesis, 23 v.. Eve is called Adam's bone, because she was 
formed out of his bone. Again, chap. 3, v. 19, where Adam is called 
dust, because he was taken out of dust ; ^ for dust thou art, and unto 
dust thou wilt return.' Again, in the Book of Exodus, 7 chap. 12 v., 
where Aaron's ro(f is called a rod even after it became a serpent ; ' for 
they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents 5 but 
Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods;' finally, we find in the Gospel of 
St. John, 2 chap. 9 v., that the water, after it was changed into wine, 
is called, by the Evangelist, water ; ^ when the ruler of the feast had 
tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was ; 
but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast 
called the bridegroom.' 

" Thirdly : Why did not St. Paul, when writing to the Corinthians 
in Greek, and that too, for their immediate instruction, aware, as he 
must have been, that there were many words in that language to ex- 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 31 

press the sign, why did he use the same language as our Saviour did, 
who, as my reverend opponents assert, had no word in the Hebrew to 
express the sign, and say Tovto orj/Lcaivei, /nov to oco^a, and not as he 
expressed it, Tovto sotl fiov to ocofiay this signifies my body, and not 
this is my body. My friend, Mr. Henderson, replied to this query, after 
the Irish way, by proposing a question ; v/hy, said he, in the 25th 
verse of the same chapter did he not use the word signify when speak- 
ing of the cup, instead of is, to this Irish answer I reply, that the Apos- 
tle was not so ridicuously absurd as to say, that the cup signified, or 
was the sign of his blood. The evident meaning of St. Paul's words is, 
* In this cup is my blood of the New Testament,' &c. 

'' Fourthly : Has Christ a different body from that which was born of 
the Virgin Mary ? if not, how reconcile these words of the Book of 
Common Prayer, * The body and blood of Christ is verily and indeed 
taken and received by the faithful in the Sacrament,' with the absence 
of a corporeal presence ? My friend, Mr. Henderson, to reconcile this 
irreconcilable difficulty, has introduced Cranmer and many others of 
the same tribe ; but I am sure that all his efforts have proved unsuc- 
cessful, for there are none here of so acute an understanding as to be 
able to perceive how one and the same individual can receive the body 
and blood of Christ, verily and indeed, and not receive it at the same time, 

^^ Fifthly : How can a man be said to be guilty of Christ's body and 
blood, who by no means receives his body and blood ? Mr. Henderson 
says, that we become guilty of Christ's body and blood, though we by 
no means receive either the one or the other, in the same manner as 
the sinner crncifies Christ in his flesh ; now, as my reverend friend ad- 
mits all sins to be equal, it would evidently follow from his solution, 
and the difficulty proposed by me that the unworthy receiver of the 
holy Eucharist, is no more guilty of Christ's 'body and blood, than he 
who takes a pin from his neighbor. 

'' Sixthly : Will a man be damned for not discerning Christ's Body, 
if the Lord's Body be not beneath the sacramental veils ? My friend 
answers, yes, if he does not discern it with the eye of faith. I would 
here ask my reverend opponent, should not faith have a real, and not; 
a chimerical object? Does it follow, because I believe God is here 
present, that he is thereby absent ; that he is not in heaven, because I 
believe him to be in it ? 

'' Seventhly : On the night of the institution of the blessed Sacrament, 
the Jewish rite was abolished. On this night, it is not reasonable to 



32 LIFE OF RIGHT BEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 

conclude that the substance succeeded to the shadow, and unreasonable 
to assert that a mere figure succeeded to a figure, My reverend friend 
states that the paschal lamb was a figure not of the Eucharist, but of 
Christ Jesus himself, who was immolated on Mount Calvary. Grant- 
ing that the paschal lamb slain^ was the figure of Christ really slain on 
Mount Calvary, I would ask Mr. Henderson, why should not the pas- 
chal lamb eaten, be the figure of Christ really eaten in the Sacrament ? 

^' Eighthly : Did Christ, who led captivity captive, give real or im- 
aginary gifts to men? My friend answers he gave real gifts. If he 
has done so, the Eucharist, being his last gift or legacy, must even in 
!Mi*. Henderson's principles, contain something more than the mere 
figure. 

*•' Ninthly : In what consists the superiority of the Eucharistic bread 
in the new law, over the Manna in the old, (which superiority Christ 
specified in the 6ih chapter of St. John) if the Sacrament be barely 
figurative ? Mr. Henderson in his answer to this asserts, that there is 
no comparison made in the 6th chap, of St. John, between the Manna 
and the Eucharistic bread. This reply I shall place in juxtaposition 
with the words of truth itself, and leave it to the public to determine. 
^ Our fathers did eat manna in the desert ; as it is written he gave 
them bread from heaven to eat.' Again, ^ your fathers did eat Manna 
in the wilderness, and are dead ; this is the bread which cometh down 
from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. And the bread 
that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.' 
Si. John, chap, vi., 31, 48, 49, 50, and 51 verses. 

•^ Tenthly : Christ came to fulfil, and not to make void the law ; to 
perfect that which was written. Where in this hypothesis do we find 
the accomplishment of the various and bloody offerings made under the 
Patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, if the Eucharist be merely taken 
in remembrance ? My friend, Mr. Henderson, replies, that there was no 
such thing as unbloody sacrifice before the coming of Christ : my friend 
I am sure forgot the fruit of the earth offered by Cain — the bread and 
wine by Melchisadech — the wine, oil and flour, the incense, the scape- 
goat, &c. mentioned in the book of Leveticus. As to the eleventh 
query which I proposed, it appears to have awed my reverend oppo- 
nents into a kind of solemn silence ] they did not even deign to notice 
it, though the twelfth day of the discussion has now almost elapsed. I 
shall now again propose it, and beg the attention of the most respecta- 
ble assembly to its purport. 

" Eleventh : Should not the learned and pious, who lived during the 



LIFE OF RIGHT EEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 33 

seven centuries subsequent to the redemption, should they not know 
the meaning of tne Apostolic words, ^ This is my "body,' much better 
than we of the present day ? If common sense avow it, I challenge the 
reverend gentlemen here present to determine the question of a real, sub- 
stantial presence, by placing in juxtaposition the quotations of the Holy 
Fathers of the seven first centuries of the Church of Christ, and by 
permitting them to go, uncommented, before the public. As I mentioned 
above, the reverend gentlemen on the other side did not deign to no- 
tice this challenge, and why ? because they were fully persuaded that 
the voice of antiquity would be raised against them — that the Austins 
and the Cyrils, the Chrysostoms and the Ambroses, with trumpet tongue, 
would cry out against their innovations, and upbraid them with having 
made void the covenant of the Lord, and having changed the substan- 
tial gifts of the Redeemer into mere beggarly elements ! 

" 12th. How can the fundamental principle of Protestantism— namely, 
that every man is capable of judging, and should judge for himself, be 
reconciled with the exaction of the tenths of the poor man's labor, by 
teachers, preachers, and ministers ? 

" 13th. If Protestants of a!l denominations be one, as my friends 
confidently state they are, why brand with the name of schismatic the 
dissenter true to his principles ? 

^' 14th. If Protestants of all denominations be one, in faith, in hope, 
and in charity, why set up conventicles apart ; why worship in dif- 
ferent temples ? 

^' 15th. How, in the name of common sense, can my reverend oppo- 
nents unblushingly state, that any man differing from them in opinion 
is wrong — they who admit that every man should judge for himself 
and that in judging for himself he is right ? 

''16th. On what principle, I here ask my reverend friends, would 
they refute the Arian, who, taking private judgment and Scripture for 
his sole guide, would interpret the following text of sacred writ : — ' My 
Father is greater than I ;' and again, ' there is one mediator, the man 
Christ Jesus,' of the nonconsubstantiality or inferiority of the Son? 

" 17th. How can the universal apostacy of Christendom, mentioned in 
the book of Homilies, be reconciled with this truth, the perpetual object 
of a Christian's faith, ' I believe in the holy Catholic Church ?' or, as it 
is in the Nicene Creed, ' I believe in the One, Holy, Catholic, and 
Apostolic Church?' A Church always holy, is at all times void of 
Idolatry, and of doctrines perniciously erroneous. 

" 18th. The articles which separate my reverend opponents from 



34 LIFE OF KIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINK 

tlieir Presbyterian brethren, and from dissenters of every denomination, 
are either essentials or non-essentials — if essentials, why say that they 
are one with them — if non-essentials, why, in the name of heaven, tear 
the seamless garment of Christ asunder ? — why divide the fold of Christ, 
and disturb the peaceful mansion of the City of Sion, by prescribing 
non-essential articles as conditions of communion, and by forcing the 
non-conformists to retire, excommunicated from their law Church ? 

19th. Vfhy do my reverend friends admit a lay supreme head in 
spiritual and ecclesiastical matters, whose supremacy is not sanctioned 
by any warrant in the written Christian dispensation '? 

"20th. "Why assert that Scripture bears testimony to itself, when 
its author, Christ Jesus, says, that even his own living and estab- 
lished testimony of himself would be fruitless and vain. 'If I bear 
witness of myself, my witness is not true 5' again, ' You sent to John, 
and he gave testimony of truth.' (St. John, 5 c. 31-33 v.) 

" 21st. How will my reverend opponents of the Church of Eng- 
land prove to this learned assembly that they are not guilty of the sin 
of schism — a sin which, as the Apostle of Nations attests, excludes 
from the kingdom of heaven — equally guilty, I repeat it, with the 
Arians, the IS'estorians, the Eutechians ; they also called the Church 
of Christ corrupted — they also gloried in the name of Refonners ] 

22. According to the law of the land, which is supposed to speak 
the sense of the nation, it is declared that no man is capable of man- 
aging his temporal concerns, before he has attained the twenty-first 
year of his age. Common sense should then move us to believe that 
no man is capable of judging for himself in religious matters, or of 
selecting his own symbol, before he has reached that period of his 
life. I here, then, ask my reverend friends, can that religion be the 
religion of Christ, which supposes that a man must have attained his 
twenty-first year before he can give his reasonable assent to the doc- 
trines which it inculcates, or, in other words, make an act of faith in 
its divine revelation'? 

" 23d. Can a Protestant of the Established Church reasonably be- 
lieve any tenet peculiar to his creed, when he is quite aware that the 
Eastern and Western Churches are opposed to this doctrine ? 

"24th. Christ Jesus established his Church on and by the word 
preached, and not written. 'Preach the Gospel to every creature, 
Go. teach all nations,' &c, I will require a clear text of Scripture, 
bearing on this subject, which will go expressly to invalidate the un- 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 85 

written first rule of faith, and make known to us the exact period of 
its suspension." 

His closing remarKs on this day are necessary to com- 
plete the relation : 

*' I might here repeat many other queries, to which my reverend 
friends, though frequently called on, have not condescended to give 
answers, and for this reason, because they were convinced that in their 
principles they were unanswerable. They acted, in this respect, a 
prudent part ; for knowing as they must, the weakness of the system 
which they advocate, they chose rather to fly before the difficulties 
proposed, than by a fruitless struggle in attempting to uphold it, fur- 
ther expose before the eyes of the world, its consumptive and totter- 
iug condition. I am sorry to perceive here that my time is almost ex- 
pired, as I came armed with substantial documents, which would 
prove to the satisfaction of this assembly that Protestantism, as it is 
now professed by the Church of England, is nothing more than a 
patched coat, made up of the different heresies of the days that are 
gone by ; my sorrow, however, is somewhat alleviated by the convic- 
tion I feel, that enough has been done to point out to my Protestant 
friends the way that leads to life — to show them that they are sheep 
of another fold — that, to enjoy that holy and religious peace of soul, 
which transcends all human understandmg, they must return to the 
bosom of that Church from which their forefathers, in an evil hour, 
separating themselves, took refuge in the Babel of Schism. 

" As this is the last time I will here have an opportunity of address- 
ing those who differ from me in opinion, I beg leave, before sitting 
down, to crave their indulgence, if throughout the discussion, where, 
"unfortunately, retaliation too often became necessary, I should, in their 
eyes, have permitted my zeal for the house of the Lord to burn rather 
intensely, and to say that the kind attention with which they have 
heard me, and the liberality evinced in general by all denominations 
of Christians throughout this city, have made an impression on my 
mind which no time can efface." 

Eev. Messrs. Bloxliam, Ross and Smyly spoke in the 
closing debate, as did Eev. Messrs. Qiiin and O'Kane ; 



S6 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDA\\\ED :\rAGIXX. 

the whole was wound up by Mr. O'Loiighhn in a rapid 
S3'noptical review of all that had l3een said on either side. 
His peroration could hardly help touching both j^^^i^ties 
among the auditors : 

" I wish to direct a few words to my Protestant brethren, as it is 
probably the last opportunity I may have of addressing them They 
have had, during this discussion, an opportunity of knowing what 
the}' did not heretofore know, the doctrines of the Catholic Church. 
You must now perceive that she is not that erroneous, superstitious, 
idolatrous Church which you were led to believe she was, but that 
One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church with which Christ will re- 
main to the end of days. If there be among you one from whose 
mind divine grace has removed the veil in which it has been enveloped 
by prejudice, harden not your hearts against the divine influence, but 
humbly exclaim. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do, and follow the 
directions of the holy admonition. To you, also, my Catholic breth- 
ren, I address myself; you must be filled with consolation and holy 
joy on hearing a reason for the faith that is in you. You have heard 
how groundless are the misrepresentations so unsparingly used against 
our holy Church, of superstition, error and idolatry : on the contrary, 
that she is pure, hoh", Catholic and Apostolic ; that she is directed by 
her divine founder, Jesus Christ, who speaks to you by the voice of 
her pastors — never deviate from her decisions ; they are the decisions 
of the Holy Ghost, who preserves her doctrine pure and undefiled. 
She is always armed against every error, and all the powers of earth 
and hell will not prevail against her. Be therefore firm and constant 
in the faith ; be strengthened by the divine aid against all impostors 
and the ungodly ; in the words of St Paul, ' Watch, stand in the 
faith, act manfully and be comforted.' (Cor. 16 : 32.)" 

ISTever was text of Holy TTrit more applicable to a 
people, than that sentence of St. Paid to the Catholics of 
the ISTorth of Ireland, — ''Watch, stand in the faith, act 
manftdly, and be comforted," was not cited to them 
in vain. They had borne for a himdred and forty years 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 87 

with, every civil and social deprivation, but at last their 
" emancipation" was at hand. They were lifting up their 
hearts to God, and their heads among their fellow-men. 
It is no exaggeration to say that the resolute stand made 
by their six consecrated champions at Derrj^, increased 
their confidence in themselves, in their clergy, and in the 
faith, of their fathers. The temper, the scholarship, the 
firmness of Fathers O'Loughlin and O'Kane, McOarron, 
Mc'Leer, Maginn and Quinn, filled them with courage to 
act manfully. It is evident from the challenge that it 
was not only a religious controversy, but an exhibition 
of the reasoning powers and native gifts of the old race 
against the new. The Eosses, Bloxhams, Boyds and 
Hendersons were not deficient in talent or acquirement ; 
some, or all of them were graduates of Trinity College, 
one of the best endowed Universities in Europe. Their 
opponents were mainly the young alumni of Maynooth, 
then struggling into celebrity. But neither their College 
nor the Irish Church had any need to be ashamed of 
their champions in the famou.s Discussion at Derry.* 

Cotemporaneously with these oral discussions, the Ca- 
tholic Association continued its political agitation for the 
abolition of the remnant of the Penal Code. Under the 

'• As stated above (in the text), the authenticated Report of the Dis- 
cussion was published in ]828, simultaneously by Curry, of Dublin, 
and by Coyne of the same city. It forms a thick volume of over 500 
pages, but each day's debate is numbered separately 



38 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINJS". 

wise guidance of O'Connell and his brilliant colleagues, 
this voluntary society had almost grown into the import- 
ance of a Provisional Government. It comprised a fair 
representation of the old nobility and gentry, all the 
Catholic clergy, and almost all the laity. It had its for- 
eign alhes in France, Bavaria, Eome, the United States, 
Brazil and India. At home its proclamations were more 
effectual than the Viceroy's; abroad, its debates were 
read with as much interest as those of the Imperial Par- 
liament. For five years that unparalleled and menacing 
spectacle overawed the empire, striking fear even into 
the lion heart of Arthur, Duke of Wellington. At last, 
in April, 1829, the British government capitulated to 
the Irish Association, and the second ^^ Catholic Relief 
Bill" became the law, not only for Ireland, but for one- 
fifth of the human race. During the last years of the 
contest, O'Connell had no more zealous agent in the 
northern province than the popular young curate of Mo- 
ville. The name of Inishowen had not even then lost 
all its terrors for Dublin Castle, and he kept it continually 
in terrorer}% over the parties in power. His speeches at 
the Baronial meetings previous to ^^ Emancipation" (as 
the act of '29 is popularly called), are said to have been 
like his early sermons, full of pith and power. CJnluckily 
they have shared the same fate, and we must, therefore, 
accept their merits upon heVfsay. What is more to our 
purpose is, that Mr. Maginn, amidst all these exciting 

8 (/ 



LIFE OF EIGHT PwEV. EDWARD MAGINN. 89 

scenes, political and polemical, liad so tlioronglily retained 
tlie confidence of his Bishop, that on the death of his 
uncle, in the memorable year of Emancipation, he was 
appointed to succeed him in the u.nited parishes of Fa- 
han and Deysertegny. 



40 LIFE OF EIGHT EEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE JMISSION OF THE NEW PARISH PRIEST — STATE OF THE CHURCH 
IN GENERAL — LOCAL EXERTIONS OF DR. MAGINN — HE SUPPRESSED 
SECRET SOCIETIES— FOUNDS SEVEN NATIONAL SCHOOLS — HIS CON- 
TROVERSY WITH THE NATIONAL BOARD OF EDUCATION — HIS IN- 
CREASING INFLUENCE — HIS PREACHING AS DESCRIBED BY A CO- 
TEMPORARY. 

At the comparatively early age of twenty-seven Mr. 
Maginn was tlins placed as Pastor over a community of 
ten tliousand souls. He took up liis residence at Bun- 
crana, a little watering-place of about a tliousand inhab- 
itants. His mission extended over a country which as 
early as the seventh century had been covered with cells 
and schools. In the annals of Ulster, mention is fre- 
quently made of Fahan-Mura and the miracles of its 
patron. The noble house of O'jSTeil invoked him as their 
special intercessor ; on his Gospel some of the most sol- 
emn treaties of the northern tribes were ratified, and his 
crozier (for he was a Bishop or Abbot) was preserved 
with awe and veneration down to the destructive era of 
^' the Eeformation." From that dismal date no diocese 
suffered more severely than Derry. Successive Bishops 
and Abbots were pat to death as fast as discovered; 
others fled into exile and there died ; the Prior of Cole- 



LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINjS". 41 

raine, in Cromwell's time, was flung into the Bann and 
stoned to death by the Paritan soldiery ; a Bishop who 
returned, at the peril of his life in the reign of Queen 
Anne, hired as a common shepherd on the uplands of 
'Magilligan, renewing in his own person the experience of 
Saint Patrick, who, from having been an enslaved shep- 
herd of sheep, became a spiritual shepherd of souls. 

The year in which Mr. Maginn became a Parish Priest 
of his diocese, was, as we said, the same in which "the 
Emancipation Act" became the law of the land. A new 
policy towards Catholics was thus initiated by the State ; 
and new relations must needs be established between the 
Chnrch and State. With Catholic peers and commoners 
in Parliament, Catholic judges on circuit, and Catholic 
magistrates in every neighborhood, the necessitj^ for a 
a wider range of observation, a higher tone, and an en- 
larged legislation, naturally devolved upon the Hierarchy. 

The Irish Church did not want for learned and pru- 
dent prelates in that emergency. Dr. Doyle, Dr. Mur- 
ray, and Dr. McHale, were by acquirements and position 
the most influential of their order. Each had borne a 
patriotic part in the contest just closed, each sincerely 
desired the good of the church and the country, but each 
differed widely from the other, as to the best means of 
promoting their common objects. It would seem that 
Dr. Doyle placed his chief hope in the education of the 
people. Dr. Murray in conciliating the government, and 



42 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAaiNN. 

Dr. McHale in prolonged agitation. In a very few years 
the gifted " J. K. L." was removed from the scene ; while 
many new measures were proposed, and many new dan- 
gers began to menace the lately emancipated Church. 
Between 1830 and '40 the Tithe question was compro- 
mised ; the corporations were thrown open to Catholics ; 
the national school system was introduced ; the new 
Poor law went into operation ; official intercourse with. 
Eome, and a state provision for the clergy, were discussed 
and dropped, resumed and postponed. The Hierarchy 
though not recognized by their titles were treated very 
ceremoniously ; the least advance on the part of any 
of them, was graciously received ; drafts of ^' government 
measures" were more than once submitted to their judg- 
ment ; and a constant anxiety was shown to attach them 
to the interest of Imperial parties. Three or four of the 
Bishops were supposed to be so propitiated by these at- 
tentions, as to overlook the continued disregard of popu- 
lar demands by successive ministries and Parliaments. 
The National School system was found on trial to be 
very defective, and by some, absolutely mischievous ; 
the Poor law had many cruel drawbacks in the eyes of 
a proverbially charitable people ; the Irish representation 
was shamefully disproportionate to that of the Empire at 
large ; and the power of the landlord class remained as 
absolute over the tenantry, as before. The great body 
of the Bishops continued on these grounds to mingle in 



LIFE OF EIGHT KEV. EDWARD MAGINN. 43 

public afiliirs, following with unabated zeal the lead of 
Mr. O'Oonnell, who in turn, was equally willing to be 
advised and led by them. The second order of the clergy 
were almost to a man of the same party ; and none of 
their body more entirely so, than the new Parish Priest 
of Fahan and Desertegney. 

The peculiarities of his position, not less than his ardent 
temperament, brou_ght the Eev. Mr. Maginn frequently 
before the public. The Catholics of the peninsula were 
'* twelve to one" against all other denominations. They 
were still distinguishable into clans, and still spoke Gaelic. 
Their market and court-town was Derry, the Urhs In- 
tacta of a hostile race and creed. The proscriptive Pro- 
testantism of the maiden city had withstood the gentle 
influence of Dean Berkley, the zealous liberalism of its 
famous Bishop-Earl, and the fraternal spirit of the volun- 
teers and United Irishmen. Proud of its notoriety as 
the city which repulsed King James, it looked down 
with scorn not unmingled with apprehension on the gi- 
gantic Innishowen men who came to mingle in its mar- 
kets, and sometimes to settle within its walls. On the 
northern bank of the Poyle, an Irish town had arisen, 
such as grew up without the walled ISTorman boroughs 
of the Leinster pale ; in its midst the hated cross was 
lifted on high, Catholic rites were constantly celebrated, 
the Bishop took up his permanent residence, and tlius 
the citadel of rcli<xion, like another Santa Fc, coii- 



44: LIFE OF RIGHT REY. EDWARD MAGINN. 

fronted its powerful rival, entrenched and ^'established'' 
on the opposite hill side. It was not without grief and 
indignation that the citizens and apprentices of Derry 
beheld these alarming encroachments of the Papal power, 
and many a bitter local controversy marked the progress 
of the revolution. To the Catholics in those contests a 
3:*eady pensman and a prudent chief were necessary, and 
tliese Providence supplied them in the person of our sub- 
ject. Mr. Maginn's first organ of communication with 
the public was the Derry Chronicle^ edited by Sheehan, a 
native of Celbridge, County Kildare, afterwards better 
known as editor of the Cornet^ a satirical and national 
Dublin newspaper. After the Chroniclers decease the 
Journal was alwaj^s open to him, as was subsequently, 
when he became more influential, all the local press. In 
these papers he appeared anonymously under a great 
variety of titles, and when the matter was too personal or 
too tempting for satire, a friendly local printer was always 
ready to issue his pasquinades in broadsheet form.^ The 
multitude of local questions on which he wrote either 
to the press or officials it would be impossible to enu- 
merate ; the principals were against the appointment of 
an exclusively Protestant magistracy in Innishowen ; in 
favor of calling to the bench the Doherty's of Glen, and 
others of the old Catholic families ; against the violence 

"^ Some of those, such as '' The Troubles of the Kirk" arc in verse, 
but they would not add to the reputation of Dr. Maginn's abilities. 



LIFE OF BIGHT PwEV. EDWARD MAGINN. 45 

exhibited in '33 and '34 in the collection of Tithes ; 
against the removal of an impartial stipendiary magis- 
trate in 1837 ; and against the removal of a lieutenant 
of police who had won the confidence of the people ; 
against frequent proceedings of the magistrates at quarter 
sessions, which he represented to the Lord Lieutenant as 
likely to bring the administration of justice into contempt. 
In all these commimications, whether to the press or the 
castle, he takes without apology the tone and position of 
a protector of his poor people — a character which ad- 
mirably harmonizes with that of a Priest, in such a state 
of society as then existed in the North of Ireland. 

To root out and totally destroy secret agrarian socie- 
ties, was a favorite task of the Pastor of Fahan. In his 
neighborhood it was one of no ordinary difficulty, be- 
cause there such societies were bound up with an exten- 
sive popular interest — illicit distillation and smuggling. 
'' Innishowen," as every one knows, is the name ^ar ex- 
cellance for genuine whiskey. In the wild recesses of the 
peninsula, where the goats alone could find their waj^, 
the daring defier of London law guarded his busy worm 
and his well-stocked crypt. A special '^revenue" police, 
trained to all sorts of wiles and adventures, was at length 
established to hunt down the stills ; but some intrepid 
followers of the forbidden calling, if flxme may be be- 
lieved, still hold out in their fastnesses, despite all the 
forces and all the ingenuity of her Majesty's excise. 



46 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

Against all oatli-bound associations, Mr. Maginn, whether 
in the pulpit or on his visits to the homes of the people, 
waged incessant war. One of his controversies relating 
to this subject accidently became public. In '37, O'Don- 
nel, an approver or crown witness, residing at Buncrana, 
deposed that Mr. Maginn's servant named James Doherty, 
had asked him if he would take ten pounds to shoot a 
landlord who had ejected his (Doherty's) mother from her 
holding. After lodging this information the approver 
sent word to the accused to quit the country, ^^ for he had 
done his job," an advice which the latter, having slim 
faith in landlord justice, forthwith did. The local ene- 
mies of Mr. Mao'inn, that Orano-e mas^istracv which he 
had never spared, did not hesitate to hint in conversa- 
tion, that he had been a harborer of ribbon -men, and 
privy to the escape of his servant These allusions being 
given to the public in 18-iO, by a Mr. McClintock Spence, 
occasioned an animated correspondence in the Derry 
Journal^ of two years' duration. In his letters, Mr. Ma- 
ginn proved that he had been the most effective enemy 
of all illegal associations in his barony ; that he had 
handed over to the police in his own chapel-yard, one 
Walch, a suspected agent of such societies ; that there 
was not then in his entire mission a single Catholic en- 
gaged in any way in such lawless combinations. He 
challenged the most rigid inquiry into this latter state- 
ment, a challenge which was not accepted by the other 



LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINiN-. 47 

side. He does not directly deny being privy to the es- 
cape of his servant Doherty, though he does wholly dis- 
claim all knowledge of his complicity with the ribbon- 
men, if he were really guilty. As a curious illustration 
of the ''administration of justice" in Ireland, we have 
given below, his summary statement of the provocations 
systematically offered to the Innishowen-men, with which 
the Spence correspondence opened. 

BuNCRANA, April 7, 1840. 

To the Editor of the Londonderry Journal : 

SiR; — On Saturday, the 5tli inst., an article appeared in tlie Sentinel, 
headed " Incendiarism," which more or less affects the character of 
this neighborhood. It will not, I would fain hope, be considered ob- 
trusive in me to set the public right on this subject of the Sentinel's 
communication. Newspapers, like individuals, are subject to be mis- 
led ; and never did any correspondent impose further on any paper or 
any person, than the Sentinel's correspondent did on that occasion. 

" On the night of Friday, the 27th ult. (states the Sentinel) about the 
hour of 11 o'clock, an attempt was made to burn the house of a man 
named O'Donnell, who lives in the Pound-lane, Buncrana, by setting 
the thatch in the rear of it on fire. O'Donnell was in bed, but fortu- 
nately made the discovery in time to preserve his dwelling, and has- 
tened, almost in a state of nudity, to apprise the police." 

That an attempt was made to set O'Donnell's house on fire we cheer- 
fully admit ; but the question is yet undecided by whom the coal was 
put into O'Donnell's house. The general impression is, and was at the 
time, that the coal was put into it by O'Donnell himself. The strong- 
est circumstantial evidence is at present in the hands of Capt. Roberts 
against O'Donnell. It was sworn by an aged and respectable woman, 
his door neighbor, that she saw him cross the wall from the rear of his 
house not ten minutes before he called on the police ; secondly, that 
when she saw him cross the wall, he had his clothes on, and that, a few 
minutes afterwards, she saw him return with the police in a state of 
nudity. She furthermore declared on oath, that from the time she 



48 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

saw Mm coming from the rear of bis house, it appeared to her almost 
impossible for him to have had sufficient time to take off his clothes. 
Bradley the whitesmith, in the Pound-lane, O'Donnell's intimate friend, 
when questioned on oath with respect to the circumstances, corrobo- 
rated her testimony. 

When the police arrived, there was scarcely a handful of the thatch 
burned. Connecting, sir, the circumstances of this case of O'Donnell's 
burning with the circumstances of another equally infamous case, I am 
induced to believe that those paid informers of the government are 
setting every engine which human ingenuity or the malice of hell can 
invent, to enhance their own value by disturbing the peace of the 
country, and blackening the character of the peasantry of these par- 
ishes. 

Five or six threatening notices were, as these gentlemen approvers 
say, served on them 5 these notices were handed to the police, sent for- 
ward to head-quarters ; the county represented in a state of rebellion ; 
strange magistrates brought to adjudicate on the rebels of this dis- 
trict ; the constabulary privileged, without reading the riot act or 
anything else, to beat the peasantry on their way home ; and lately, 
when a foolish boy threw a stone, who had been maltreated, orders 
were given by a subaltern to charge and fire on the people. Many of 
the peasantry were severely injured, and one of them was stabbed and 
left weltering in his blood. When summonses were issued for the ag- 
grieved by the aggressors, it comes out, after their trial and acquittal, 
that these threatening notices were fabricated by their paid approvers 
— those very persons privileged to insult and annoy the people — the 
patronized of the police and the government. * * 

It is worth pausing to consider how such an inevitable 
opposition between a popular clergy and an unpopular 
aristocracy, must have affected all Irish ideas of subor- 
dination, of duty, and of justice. In a society where the 
privileged class are worthy of their rank, the clergy 
would naturally be their associates and allies ; the peo- 
ple would as naturally yield them a willing and reveren- 
tial obedience. In Ireland — in Ulster more, especially — 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 49 

this happy harmony of interests and influences was totally 
impossible. It was almost invariably the duty of the 
Pastor of souls to set himself against the lord of the 
soil, of the teacher of obedience to become a leader in 
resistance, of the preacher of peace, to take a tone of op- 
position, even of menace. Thus society went wrangling 
on ; the clergy denouncing the vengeance of heaven on 
the more obdurate gentry ; the vindictive among the 
gentry inflicting all the local annoyances they could in- 
vent upon the heads of the clergy. In this conflict of 
interests and positious the uninformed rural mind was 
shocked and confused, and but for the stay and prop of 
religion might easily have fallen into the last stage of 
anti-social savagery. Mr. Maginn's letters after his ap- 
pointment as Parish Priest, are largely made up of ap- 
peals to the Castle against the abuse of power by the 
neis:hborino: mao-istrates, and other controversies with 
them and their class. His vigilance and fearlessness 
are conspicuous in every instance, but the details of 
these local affairs could hardly interest the general reader. 
A more congenial object of his activity was the foun- 
dation of new Schools. lie felt instinctively from his 
love of the country that she was passing out of one cycle 
of existence into another. He discerned on the face of 
the land those patches of pitchy darkness, which the 
statist depicts on the map of comparative education. 
He thoroughly adopted the maxim of Dr. Doyle, tliat 



50 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

" next to the blessing of redemption, and the graces con- 
sequent upon it, there is no gift bestowed by God, equal 
in value to a good education." Before the National 
Schools were introduced, he had visited many parts of 
England and Ireland, soliciting the aid of the charitable 
and benevolent, to enable him to erect a school-house 
and chapel for the accommodation of four hundred and 
ten families, hitherto destitute of the means of instruc- 
tion.""^^ The introduction of the new school system in 
1834, presented him with unexpected facilities for fol- 
lowing up his favorite project. The theory of this sys- 
tem was very far indeed from perfection, and its mixed 
Board of Commissioners looked more like a compromise 
of essential truths, than a natural or desirable co-opera- 
tion. Yet whatever the shortcomings of the system, its 
administrators gave practical safeguards to parents and 
pastors, which in Mr. Maginn's eyes compensated for its 
defects. The Board appointed by government could 
alone decide what was to be taught during school-hours ;' 
the Board could refuse its quota to the teacher and prac- 
tically close the school ; but then the resident heads of 
famihes were to be joint founders of the school and pay- 
masters of the teacher, with the Board ; the local clerg}^- 
man could become the patron of the school, could visit 
it and supervise every detail of its management. As the 
system could not succeed without the sanction of the 

* Extract from Mr. Maginn's Circular, dated March, 1833 



LIFE OF RIGHT EEV. EDWAED MAGINN. 51 

Catholic clergy, the Pastor of Fahan was looked -upon 
by the Board as a yaluable ally. In the course he took 
he had with him the majority, not all, of the members of 
his order. The distinguished Archbishop of Tuam and 
a powerful minority continued for years, and a few of 
their survivors still continue, hostile to the whole system. 
It cannot be denied that special facts — such as the 
introduction of Dr. Whately's Arian lessons into the 
schools — went far to justify their hostility. On the 
other hand, the experience of twenty years has dissipated 
the worst apprehensions of the first opponents of the 
schools, since it is well-known that the young men and 
maidens educated on their forms have come out into the 
world not less Catholic or less Irish than the generality 
of preceding generations. It was natural that the pa- 
triots of '34 should fear the gift of the Greeks, especially 
when presented by the hands of a Stanley ; but it was 
no small evidence of statesmanship to foresee at that 
time how the gift might be used for the common good, 
agreeably to the highest requirements of religious duty. 
Previous to 1840, we find the money orders of the 
Commissioners of Education made payable to Mr. Ma- 
ginn as Patron of the National Schools (male and fe- 
male), situated at Dumfries and Cristagh, also of the 
schools of Meenagh, and upper and lower lilies. To- 
wards the first-named schools the Commissioners con- 
tributed eighteen pounds per year, to the second sixteen 



52 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINK. 

pounds, to the third ten, and the last eight pounds. 
They granted in each case to start the school a gratu- 
itous stock of books, and engaged to supply their stand- 
ard works afterwards, on the patrons' and teachers' joint 
order, at half price. In return, they stipulated that the 
schools should be open to the inspectors appointed by 
the ISTational Board, should teach according to their 
sj^stem, and should put up their title on the outside of 
each school-house. This necessity of the Board work- 
ing through the local pastor, placed Mr. Maginn in the 
enviable position of the educator of Innishowen. "With 
his accustomed energy, he discharged the onerous duties 
of his self-imposed office. His success, and the sacrifices 
he made to compass it, naturally gave him a strong 
claim on the Board, and a right to take the high tone 
which we find him assuming in the controversy which 
arose in 1840. In that year the Synod of Ulster, which 
had previously opposed the national system, agreed by 
a majority to co-operate in its dissemination. As a con- 
sequence, the Moderator (Dr. Henry, we believe) was 
added to the Board, which at once entered into a corre- 
spondence wdth all the friendly Presbyterian ministers. 
The same j^ear a circular of the Commissioners, com- 
plaining that the school-houses were suffered to fall out 
of repair, and inviting the local trustees to transfer the 
deeds by which they were held from the local patrons 
to the Board, excited in • Mr. Maginn serious apurehen- 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIN:N'. 53 

sions. Having occasion to address their secretaries on 
a local matter, he wrote the following decided letter 
in relation to these innovations. 

REV. MR. BIAGINN TO THE SECRETARIES OF THE NATIONAL BOARD 
OF EDUCATION. 

BuNCRANA, Jidy 22, 1840. 

Dear Sirs,— I have written twice to your office witMn tlie last eight 
weeks, relative to the aid we require from the Commissioners to erect 
a national schoolhouse at Ballymacarrj, in the County of Donegal. 
In your letter dated the first October, 1839, you promised that when- 
ever your funds should be replenished by the government grant, our 
application on said subject would be taken into consideration, I beg 
leave to refer you to your letter to me of said date of the first Octo- 
ber. It is rather strange, and I must say, unaccountable, that you did 
not think proper to reply to my two last letters, the more pressing, as 
the season for building is far advanced, and this is the only time in 
which the peasantry of the country can co-operate with us without loss 
or inconvenience to themselves. I am convinced that a rumor that is 
here in circulation cannot be founded in fact, viz., that a Catholic cler- 
gyman is not, for the future, to expect any attention, even the ordinary 
courtesies of life, from you, since your establishment has become the 
betrothed of the Synod of Ulster. I would say at least, no matter 
how you may feel, that it would be rather imprudent to throw off at 
once your old friends, who made many sacrifices for your sake, to press 
to your bosoms your new adherents, even before the echo of their sweet 
voices, styling you " infidel,'' ^' impious," '' mutilators of the Word of 
God," &c., had died in the distance. Rather strange things have oc- 
curred in this neighborhood and that of Derry ; National' Schools and 
opposition National Schools — schools founded on the broad principles 
on which you set out, and never, in a single iota, deviating from the 
same, neither honor, honesty or truth violated in their management, 
and schools founded on exclusive principles, in every respect sectarian 
and bigoted — schools established for no other purpose but to dissociate 
the members of the same community, because it would not suit their 
bigoted and persecuting spirit, or their views of Orthodoxy to have 
us, the unclean thing, reading, writing, &c., in the same apartment 
with the predestinated, now all under the same, your patronage. I 



54 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIKN. 

have many more things to say on that subject which I will reserve for 
another time, when, perhaps, it may be necessary for me to lay the 
5ame before the Commissioners or the public. You would oblige me 
Dy at once informing me how far we can rely on you for aid towards 
the erection of the Ballymacarry schoolhouse. I have neither time 
nor leisure to be constantly writing on that subject. I am anxious, it 
is true, to have the poor people educated, but it shall not be at the 
sacrifice of any principle. No man now-a-days need flatter himself 
that the Catholic people or clergy can be made, as heretofore, the dupes 
or slaves of any sect or party. We are anxious to live at peace with 
all men ; to carry out your system upon fair grounds ; to bring the 
children up together in amity, and thereby promote the future pros- 
perity and happiness of our common country f but believe me, Sirs, 
they are far deceived who think that we are so degraded in spirit as 
to submit to have the rights of the great body of the people filched 
away by the most grasping, griping and intolerant religionists that 
ever cursed any nation. The new aspect which the workings of your 
system in this diocese present has made deep impressions on the warm- 
est advocates of the Board in this quarter, and I am much afraid that 
ere long, patriotism, and principle and truth will compel them, how- 
ever reluctantly, to join Connaught in its protest against a system 
which raised their hopes, only to end in the most bitter disappointment. 
I regret that I have had occasion to write this much. I consider, how- 
ever, honesty and candor the best and safest policy. Anxiously av/ait- 
ing your reply, I have the honor to be. 

Your obedient servant, 

Edward Maginx, P. P. of Fahan, &c. 
Messrs. Cross and Dowdall, Joint Secretaries of the National Board 
Ofllce of Education, Marlborough Street, Dublin. 

P. S. In your letter of the 1st October, you stated that the applica- 
tions of the years '37 and '8 should be first disposed of, before any 
new ones could be entertained. In last report of Commissioners, it is 
stated that the applications of said years were disposed of, so that ours 
being made in the year '39 should now come under the Board's consid- 
eration. The aid already afforded in this quarter was, I admit, consid- 
erable, but you are not to forget that in said aid three extensive par- 
ishes were contemplated, and taking into account extra parochial 
places over which we have the spiritual superintendence, including in 
all over twelve thousand of a poor population. E. M. 



LIFE OF RIGHT BEV. EDWAKD MAGINN. 55 

And fearing that his private remonstrances, however 
emphatic, might fail to arrest the dangers which he fore- 
saw, he addressed to the press many urgent argu- 
ments against the transfer of the trusts from the local 
guardians to official hands. When, in addition to these 
changes, the Board proposed to erect a certain number 
of model schools in the chief cities, Mr. Maginn drew 
up a series of resolutions for a meeting of the supporters 
of the schools founded by him, more fully expressive 
of his opposition. As stating the whole question at 
issue, we give the resolutions from his manuscript. 

RESOLUTION CONCERNING THE NATIONAL SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN 

IRELAND. 

Resolved, Firstly, That as one of the reasons assigned by His late 
Holiness, Gregory XYL, for a toleration of the National System of Ed- 
ucation, was the supposition that especial care would be taken to have 
the trust of the National School-houses exclusively vested in the Catho- 
lic bishops and clergy, we cannot view without alarm the pretensions 
lately put forward by the Commissioners of said National Education, 
to have the trusts, already vested in the Catholic bishops, clergy, or 
Catholic people, transferred from them to the Commissioners, and the 
determination of said Commissioners not to allow any grant to be 
made to any school-house to be erected, unless the premises be hence- 
forth vested in themselves, we look upon as pregnant with danger to 
the best innterests of reigion, as it must have been thereby intended, 
to remove altogether the direction and control of the education of the 
Catholic people from the hands of the Catholic clergy and laity, to 
their inspectors or officers, irresponsible to Catholic ecclesiastical su- 
pervision, and for that reason unworthy of Catholic confidence. 

Secondly. That it is a duty incumbent on the Catholic prelacy of 
Ireland to prevent, by all justifiable means, the trusts vested in them, 
their clergy or people, from being transferred to the Commissioners ; 
and to discountenance any National School so transferred, and to 



56 LIFE OF EIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGIXN. 

withhold their approbation from any school-house or school henceforth 
to be erected or established, subject to these new and insidious regula- 
tions of the National Board. 

Thirdly. That we view as traitors to the trust reposed in them the 
Catholic Trustees of National Schools, who have allowed or will allow 
the trust to pass from their hands, and thereby sacrifice to their own 
ease the interests of the Catholic community, of which they have been 
constituted the guardians. 

Fourthly. That the plea put forward by the Commissioners for the 
-withdrawal of the trust-deeds from the local Trustees of the National 
Schools, viz.. ••' that the school-houses were not kept in sufficient repair, 
and that, by the new arrangement, they would be repaired at the ex- 
pense of the Board," we believe to be a crafty device to induce the 
Catholic public to acquiesce, without opposition, in the transfer of 
their trusts, patronage and management of the National Schools ; 
since the Commissioners could as well have repaired the school-houses 
at the public expense under the former arrangement, as under their 
new regulations. 

Fifthly. That the Model Schools about to be erected in the principal 
towns of Ireland, being altogether conceived on the same plan, are 
made subject to the same regulations as the Infidel Colleges, and appa- 
rently projected for the same sinister pui'poses, ecclesiastical supervis- 
ion being wholly excluded fi'om them, we hereby enter our solemn pro- 
test against them, and pledge ourselves to discountenance them, unless 
the principle of proper ecclesiastical control be recognized in their 
management, which we cannot renounce without relinquishing our 
duties. 

TTitli this controversy — in Avliich tie was so far suc- 
cessful as to arrest the alienation of school titles in his 
own and the adjoining diocese — we naturally connect 
his course upon the government system of academic 
education, introduced by Sir Eobert Peel in 1843.^ Of 

* In 184:7, when the Catholics of Derry, having met in their school 
house to present Dr. Maginn -with a carriage, as a token of their re- 
gard, the Commissioners threatened to withdraw their grant (£15 per 
year) from the school. This led to another unpleasant correspondence 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD :MAGIXX. 57 

this, however, the better place to speak will be under 
the head of ^' relations and correspondence with Eome,'' 
farther on in the narrative. 

These various displays of his ever-ready resources 
naturally drew towards him the confidence of the people 
and the deference of his own order ; and his manners 
captivated all whom his fame attracted. During the 

between the Board and the Bishop, from which we give an extract on 
his part : 

'^ If I be not misled by the information I have received, there has 
been no transfer made of this room to the National Board. A salaried 
teacher under the National Board has been permitted to teach in it by 
the Catholic people, whose property it is, and I beg to inform the Com- 
missioners, on the part of the Catholic people of Derry, that they re- 
cognize no title to this school-room to be in any way vested in the 
Commissioners.*' * * * 

**' I would most respectfully suggest to the Commissioners to inquire 
of their superintendents in Derry and Coleraine, how many Bible 
meetings, prayer meetings, and sectarian meetings of every cameleon 
hue, and even worse meetings than these here specified, are being held 
weekly and monthly in this and the neighboring counties, even in 
schools built by the National Board. It may be that such meetings in 
these National Schools are in harmony with the feelings of the Com- 
missioners, and not prohibited by their rules ; but that it is only in 
such schools as have been built by the Catholic people and under Ca- 
tholic patronage and management, that the Commissioners' rules pro- 
hibit meetings of the Catholic clergy and their people for the most 
inoffensive and non-sectarian purposes. * * * 

*• I have had much to do with the National System and the Commis- 
missioners for many years back. I can safely say. without fear of con- 
tradiction, that I did more to give that ST*stem a fair trial and a re- 
spectable footing at great personal expense and inconvenience, than 
any other individual in the province. To have the Catholic inhabit- 
ants of Derry thus insulted in my person is anything but the gratitude 
I expected at the hands of the Commissioners or their underlings.'^ 



58 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

summer season, his cottage at Buncrana was the home 
of the clergy who resorted to that watering-place. His 
hospitality to his brethren was only inferior to his char- 
ity to the poor. His genial disposition, his conversa- 
tion ranging through a wide field of acquirement, or 
fraught with poetic fire, or bursting into brilliant sallies 
of wit and humor, gave a charm to his entertainments 
which mere tasteless wealth never can command to its 
dull festivals. "Amid the wild mountain scenery of 
Innishowen," says one of the journalists who poured out 
his tribute of sorrow at his grave, "his heart was wont, 
to expand with hopes and aspirations of future happi- 
ness and glory for Ireland. Here it was delightful to 
listen to him, in the language and spirit of Ossian, pour 
forth his soul in alternate accents of tenderness and in- 
dignation, describing the unhappy condition of his na- 
tive land; and many, very many, whose privilege it 
was to enjoy his hospitality, as they read these lines, 
will remember the truly happy hours they spent at that 
saintly and hospitable retreat." " His pre-eminent qual- 
ity," says a Derry editor, " at least in the minds of those 
who did not participate in his religious or political opin- 
ions, was an extreme sensibility, an almost womanish 
tenderness of heart, which was not sterile, as it is with 
some, but was manifested, not ostentatiously, in corre- 
sponding acts. His charity, and also his hospitality, 
whether as parish priest or coadjutor bishop, had no 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIXX. 59 

limits but in his means ; and we believe that of tne Pro- 
testants who had the honor of his acquaintance, there 
is not one, however much opposed to his views, who is 
not prepared to acknowledge that in the exercise of those 
virtues he recognized no distinction of creeds. He felt 
ardently on all subjects. As is usual, however, with 
persons of that temperament, he was remarkably placa- 
ble after having taken offence ; and it has been observed 
to "US by one who knew him well, that he was apt to re- 
store friendship which had been withdrawn, with more 
' warmth than it had been at first bestowed. In all the 
moral relations of life he was as blameless as a human 
being could well be ; and if he had personal enemies, 
which is very questionable, no man could have had 
fewer." 

With such personal gifts, superadded to a reputation 
almost national, it is not difl&cult to imagine the influ- 
ence he exercised throughout Donegal and Derry. He 
was consulted on all difl&cult cases by his diocesans, and 
even by those from a distance. He was the leading 
spirit at the Conference, and on the public platform. 
The gentry feared and courted him according to their 
consciousness of his determination of character and their 
own deserts. The poor brought their grievances to him, 
and he was seldom without needy clients and cases of 
oppression at his gate. All he had he gave ; what he 
wanted for the poor he asked fearlessly of the rich, and 



60 LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGIXN. 

he was seldom refused. For himself, he took no heed 
of to-morrow, remembering always the parable of the 
lilies of the field, and who He was who uttered it. 
Though no man was bolder in. God's cause, none was 
ever more modest in his own. 

His brother priests manifested their regard and admi- 
ration for him on all public occasions. Invitations to 
preach abroad on great festivals poured in npon him. 
He rarely accepted these beyond the limit of his own 
diocese, but within it he felt every parochial necessity 
almost as keenly as his own. One who heard him in 
the prime of life, and who exhibits respectable talents 
in the portrait he then drew of him, has thus described his 
style and effect as a preacher :^ 

^' The last time I heard him was on the 27th of November, 1831, 
when he preached a charity sermon in aid of the funds for erecting a 
chapel, in a district where such an erection was grievously required. 
The celebrity which he has obtained as a preacher, the circumstances 
under which he was about to speak, and the subject which he had 
chosen, all conspired to give extraordinary interest to this discourse. 
My own expectations were sanguine, and yet they were more than real- 
ized. There is something irresistibly prepossessing in the first appear- 
ance of this man, whish secures your attention even before he has said 
anything fine. The senses are the avenues to the heart ; and his strik- 

* This sketch was written by Mr. Peter McLaughlin, a divinity 
student, who was obliged by sickness to quit College, and died young. 
He was a near relation of the Bishop of Derry of the same name, 
and during his wanderings through his native province in search of 
what he did not find — better health — wrote sketches of several noted 
clergymen for the Belfast Vindicator. This of Dr. Maginn is headed 
'• Pulpit Sketches, No. YII.," but I am not aware that it was published. 



LIFE OF EIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 61 

ing mein, graceful manner and mellowey tones insensibly captivate 
two of them, by the time he has rounded his first period. The contour 
of the countenance is Byronic, without any of the harsher lineaments 
with which we sometimes see Byron portrayed. The first feature that 
takes your attention is the lofty, intellectual forehead, thrown in rich 
relief by a profusion of sable locks, short, thick, crisp and curling ; 
then the eye, well set, lucid and mind-lit ; while the nose, of a middle 
order between Grecian and aquiline, gives a statuesque correctness to 
the profile ; and there is an air of winning amenity in the smile of Ma- 
ginn, which plays around his mouth, and of which no change of coun- 
tenance can altogether divest it. The outline belongs to a high order, 
the features are strongly marked and regular ; yet when unexeited, 
expressing more placidity than ardor, they are pensive, pale and pas- 
sionless, but when he addresses himself to speak, they brighten at once 
into animation and intelligence, and when thoroughly excited, passion 
corrugates his brow, and burns upon his cheek, and flashes from his 
eye, but still the lower features, indicative only of the milder feelings, 
seem unwilling to be stern, and contribute nothing to a frown. His 
discourse on this occasion was masterly and emphatic j and with all 
the embellishments of high finish and elaborate preparation, it pos- 
sessed the singular advantage, so essential to a sermon, of being so 
exactly adapted to the understanding of all his audience, that all 
seemed perfectly to understand him ; and while it astonished by its 
eloquence and the brilliancy of its illustrations, it instructed by the 
profundity of its research and the perspicuity of its details, it warmed 
and edified the heart by its piety, while it captivated the attention by 
the terseness and originality of its diction, and all the varied graces 
of pure, natural, glowing eloquence. He seems to know that his busi- 
ness as a clergyman is to persuade rather than to convince, and ac- 
cordingly he does not make a useless expenditure of his powers, in 
proving what requires no proof, namely, that charity, virtue, religion 
and truth are good things, or that impiety, irreligion and infidelity are 
detestable in their nature and ruinous in their consequences ; but he 
labors to make others feel these solemn truths with the same ardor 
and intensity as himself ; in short, to add feeling to conviction, and 
action to feeling. His manner is so earnest and impressive, or he pos- 
sesses the * magna ars celare artcni^ in such a degree, that his most 
elaborate periods seem but the spontaneous efiusions of the moment — 
the warm overflowings of the heart— rather than the matured and de- 



62 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINK. 

liberate productions of the head, and you cannot accuse that of * smell- 
ing of the lamp' which seems to come free, and fresh-flowing and un- 
purchased as the fragrance of the morning. His views are clear and 
vivid, and he has a full, distinct and absolute possession of his subject ; 
a warm heart and a cool head give him the very rare combination of 
cool, strong, practical common sense, superadded to a brilliant and 
excursive imagination, and, if I mistake not, a vigorous poetic fancy, 
combining thus '' with the flash of the gem its solidity too ;'^ having 
read much and reflected more, he ranges authors in files and classifies 
them, and quotes them not individually, but in groups, and seems as 
conversant with the Jeromes and the Augustins, the Bossuets and the 
Bonaventures of bygone times, as with the more modern lucubrations 
of contemporary genius. He has thus stored his mind with an im- 
mense accumulation of general and diffusive knowledge, from whence 
he draws at pleasure an imagery bold, various and peculiar, generally 
brilUant, always correct, sometimes striking, never inappropriate, he 
is not the man to pause upon a possibility, to dissect a doubt, or calcu- 
late a contingence ; he does not willingly descend to the trifling mi- 
nutiae of frivolous (ietail, and to this contempt of trifles, more than to 
his foreign education, may be traced some peculiarities of pronuncia- 
tion which seem to have escaped correction through their imputed in- 
Bignificance. He delights in splendid generalities ; and armed with 
these he dashes through a sophism, or marks a sentiment, or delineates 
a character, or transfuses a passion by one masterly, inimitable stroke. 
" Words that breathe and thoughts that burn" are not the ornaments, 
but the staple material of his oratory, and he is not felicitous or im- 
pressive only in particular passages ; but, through the whole arrange- 
ment and tissue of his composition, he never loads his strong concep- 
tions and magnificent imaginings, with any useless verbosity. Manly, 
terse and nervous, there is no ostentatious amplification of common 
sentiments, no prolixity, no redundance ; everything is plain, concise, 
condensed. His periods are as solid, as complete in themselves, and 
as nicely fitted to each other as the columns at the Giant's Causeway, 
and like them, too, they form one majestic whole, of which you can 
hardly say whether art or nature has done most in the formation. 

" There is an eternal spring of fresh-blown images, that seem warmed 
into existence by the very glow of his emotions ; the loftiest tones of 
his voice are the best modulated and most heart-thrilling ; his most 
vehement gesticulation is by far the most graceful and commanding. 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIXN. 63 

Aided by all these natural and acquired advantages, lie manages the 
loftiest and strongest passions of our natures, and wields, with a gi- 
ant's arm, the pride and the fears, the raptures and the agonies of our 
nature, the very air and fire of our human element ; in short, if that 
be the finest composition which contains the greatest number of the 
choicest beauties ; if that be the noblest oratory which leaves the 
deepest and most indelible impression ; if its effects on the heart be 
the test of its excellence. Rev. Edward Maginn may fairly be allowed 
to rank superior to many, and inferior to none, of his most distin- 
guished contemporaries." 



CHAPTER III. 

o'connell's last effort for repeal — MR. magenVs zeal in that 

AGITATION — HIS CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE 3IARQUIS OF NORMANBY 

HIS CONFIDENCE IN o'oONNELL's TRIUMPH — HIS ELEVATION TO THE 

EPKCOPACT CONGRATULATIONS THEREUPON — NATIONAL POLITICS — 

HIS OPINION OF THE YOUNG IRELAND PAFvTY — HIS SUCCESS AS AN 
ADMINISTRATOR. 

The great domestic question in Irish politics, from 
1840 till 1848, Yras the repeal of the Act of Union. 
In '3-4 this question had been raised in the country and 
in Parliament by Mr. O'Connell, who was sustained in 
his motion by forty -five members of the House of Com- 
mons.* In the following session " The Liberator," as 
the Catholics fondly and justly called him, abandoned 
the question for an experiment of ^'justice to Ireland," 
which he hoped to obtain from the new reform adminis- 
tration of the Empire. This ^'justice" he sought for in 
a series of measures which would raise Ireland in reli- 
gious freedom, in representation, in commerce and in 
patronage, to an equality with the imperial island. Dis- 
covering, after five years support of the British whigs, 
that the prospect of such equality was annually grow- 

* Forty-four Irish and one Englisli member (Sir Joshna Walmsley) 
voted for the Repeal of the Union in '34. 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIJSTN. 65 

ing less, Mr. O'Connell in 1840 set on foot the " Loyal 
National Eepeal Association," and invited all good Irish 
men to follow him. 

In the Catholic provinces, this invitation was re 
sponded to with considerable unanimity. It had been 
the natural result of former agitations to bring out a local 
leader in every town and barony, each a small O'Oonnell 
in his sphere, and these magnates naturally took the 
lead in the new combination. In Ulster, however, it 
was different. Except the Belfast Vindicator^ Eepeal had 
no organ north of Newry. The Primate, Dr. CroUy, 
consecrated in 1884, cordially fell in with the Arch- 
bishop of Dublin's policy of conciliation, and his nega- 
tive influence had its effect. 

In January, 1841, Mr. O'Connell, to test the north, 
made his somewhat celebrated visit to Belfast, where a 
Presbyterian mob was excited to interrupt and assault 
him by the Pe^. Dr. Cooke, the principal spokesman of 
that sect. On this occasion, he was met at Belfast by 
the Bishop of Derry and several of his clergy, including 
the Eev. Mr. Maginn, whose national enthusiasm was 
always on the alert. They were witnesses to a scene of 
popular commotion far ftom honorable to the Unionists 
and Orangemen, but which unquestionably proclaimed 
that the worshippers in the Kirk were opposed to the re- 
storation of the Irish Parliament. They could see in it 
only an attempt at Catholic ascendancy; and having 



66 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINK 

long known wliat it was to exercise exclusive authority, 
they could not imagine that Catholics in power would 
not retaliate. In the scale of the Empire they were se- 
cure though insignificant; and as they had not yet 
learned to trust those who so recently escaped their per- 
secutions, they resolved to lend their influence to per- 
petuate the provincialism by which both classes were 
bowed down. 

In 1843 and '44, the repeal agitation was at the full. 
" Monster meetings " of half a million, three-fourths, 
and even a million men, obeyed the beck of O'Connell. 
He gathered them on the historic hills at Lismore, at 
Mallow, at MuUaghmast, at Tara — to show the world 
that Ireland, after forty years of the Union, declared it 
null and void. He spoke mainly words of peace, though 
a muttered menace sometimes broke the tenor of his 
speech. It was a singular spectacle ; and looking back, 
at this distance, on the multitude, the man, and the cause, 
not without its glory. Where O'Connell could not pos- 
sibly attend in person, it was thought necessary to com- 
plete the demonstration of the national will by drawing 
out the whole able-bodied population, and in their name 
and presence, denouncing the iniquitous Union. Such 
a gathering was held in Innishowen, on Monday, the 7th 
day of August, 1843. Mr. Maginn was the leading 
spirit throughout the proceedings ; the resolutions evi- 



LIFE OF EIGHT KEV. EDWAKD MAGINN. 67 

dently are his ; the cast of parts his ; he moved the 
chairman ; his was the speech of the day ; he presided 
at the concomitant banquet in the evening. Thirty other 
priests were present ; from 50,000 to 100,000 men formed 
the auditory. As illustrative of the spirit of the times 
and the people, we quote from the account of a local 
paper, not committed to the national cause: — ''This 
meeting," says the Derry Journalj " which took place 
yesterday in the central town of Innishowen, nineteen 
miles from Londonderry, was preceded on Sunday by 
the arrival here of an immense number of Eepealers 
from near and remote parts of the counties Derry, Ty- 
rone and Donegal, some of them from the latter county 
having came from the remote barony of Boylagh. The 
temperance musical band of Letterkenny were among 
the arrivals, but we presume that the other Eepealers of 
that town, or most of them, found their way to the place 
of meeting by the ferry at EathmuUan, by which ferry, 
we understand, very large numbers were brought across 
Lough Swilly to Eunner-raw Point, within a few miles 
of Buncrana, on the same Sunday. The parties who 
arrived at Derry remained in Bishop-street, outside the 
walls, during the day, and a pledge was given to the 
Mayor that there should be no music, which was duly 
observed. To quiet all alarm, the constabulary were in 
readiness ; but there was not the slightest occasion for 



68 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

their services, the peace having been undisturbed 
throughout the whole day.""^ 

At this meeting, a petition to tne sovereign, drafted by 
Mr. Maginn, was adopted, and ordered to be transmitted 
to the Marquis of Normanby, for presentation. The 
praj^er of the petition was that '' her Majesty might 
deign to exercise her royal prerogative " by calling to- 
gether the Irish Parliament. Mr. Maginn, who had, half 
a dozen years before, presented an address of congratu- 
lation from the inhabitants of Innishowen to the Marquis, 
(then Lord Lieutenant), conve3^ed to him the request of 
the Carndonagh monster meeting that he should present 
their prayer to the Qaeen. The Marquis, in rather a 

* Mr. Maginn's speecli on this occasion is not otherwise remarkable 
tlian for betraying the usual retrospective habit of his mind. In one 
place, speaking of the loyalty of Catholics, he said : " Abroad, at 
home, in every country and clime, Irish Catholics stand conspicuous 
for loyal and enthusiastic attachment to their kings and princes. It 
was an Irish Catholic priest who accompanied the unfortunate Louis to 
the scaffold, and who, whilst death was flinging its shadows around 
him, and the guillotine in action before his face, had the boldness to 
cry out, in the hearing of the Jacobinical butchers, to the illustrious 
victim, ^' Fils de est Louis monies an del ;'' and a namesake of my own 
carried the consolations of our holy religion to the unhappy Marie An- 
toinette, in spite of the bloodthirstiness of the guards and the vigilance 
of her jailers. At home we lost our all except our holy faith, by our 
loyal adhesion to the unfortunate and ungrateful Stuarts. It is a fact 
Sir, that cannot be controverted, that the good Ever McMahon, Bishop 
of Clogher, was fighting to the death for a Charles I., at the head of 
the Ulster Catholics, near Enniskillen, at the very time that the same 
Charles was signing the Scotch covenant to exterminate the Catholic 
name ! Shall we, then. Sir, who have been faithful to our royal ene- 
mies, prove faithless to a royal friend V &c., &c. 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 69 

lengthy reply for an official letter-writer, acknowledged 
the receipt of the petition^ but explained his unwilling- 
ness to present it, on the ground that it contained advice 
'^ which no minister, even if favorable to the repeal of 
the Union, could give a constitutional sovereign." In 
explanation, Mr. Maginn assured his lordship that the 
petitioners, in using that special form of words, strictly 
meant ^' to pray her Majesty to have the Union repealed 
in that way only, which the laws and constitution sanc- 
tioned." He then proposed, on behalf of the Commit- 
tee, to modify the address so as clearly to express that 
intention. Thus modified, we believe, it was finally pre- 
sented by the Marquis of JSTormanby. This theory of 
the royal prerogative, it may be necessary to add, seems 
to have been seriously held by O'Connell and other Irish 
patriots ; but it was never, so far as the present writer 
knows, elaborated with sufficient research to attract the 
attention of constitutional writers.^^ 

Mr. Maginn's reliance in O'Connell's wisdom, disinter- 
estedness, and resources, was implicit and complete. His 
admiration for that illustrious man inspires his most pri- 
vate correspondence. He was none of those insincere 
adherents — too commonly found in the train of great 
men™who criticise and condemn in private, what pub- 
licly they applaud and eulogize. In 1814, writing to a 

* The letter of tlio Marquis, as a Jocumoiit of tliose times, is given 
in the Appendix from his autograph. 



70 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

near relative in New York, he thus expounds O'Con- 
nell's policy, at home, towards England, and the United 
States : 

" You win of course expect that I would say something on the po- 
litical aspect of our country. Our prospects are much better than 
they have been. The agitation for Repeal has forced the Minister into 
measures of conciliation. The policy of England is not now to coerce 
by brute force, but to endeavor to seduce us from the love of indepen- 
dence by smiles and favors. You have heard of the Maynooth grant, 
and of the excellent manner in which it was made. The manner was 
as important as the matter. It was gracious and conciliatory. The 
Bequest Bill and the New Academies Act have been proffered as 
boons. In both there is much good, and perhaps as much evil. The 
country, and especially our hierarchy, are unfortunately divided on 
these subjects. The great majority of the people and clergy are 
against them, a few for them, but not of that class in whom the patri- 
otic portion of the people have confidence. The general belief is that 
they were intended, notwithstanding their plausibility, as apples of 
discord, to divide the strength, and waste by battles the energies of 
the great Irish party. My own opinion on this subject is, in unison 
with iVIr. O'Connells, that they are ^ dead sea fruits, to tempt the eye 
and turn to ashes on the lips.' At any rate, England and England's 
Minister, thanks to Repeal Agitation, are no longer the rattlesnakes 
of old, carrying with them, in their noisy and deadly track, terror and 
dismay. They may be, however, not less dangerous in their pretended 
friendship than in their open and outrageous hostility. The venom 
of the asp is not less subtle or deadly, though its approach be noise- 
less and its sting be wreathed in flowers. It was quite natural for you 
to feel hurt, as an American citizen, at the repeated attacks of Mr. 
O'Connell on your adopted country. His language, I am convinced, 
must have been prejudicial to the Irish exiles, and capable of strongly 
exciting the native American population against them. Many in Ire- 
land blamed him much, and considered" his language rash, wanton and 
ill-timed. I am sure no American citizen could have felt more strongly 
on that subject than numbers of the Irish people. The Young Ireland 
Party did not hesitate to express their dissatisfaction in language 
warm and vigorous. My own opinion is, that there was very little hu- 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 71 

man policy in Mr. O'ConnelFs intermeddling with a question so com- 
plicated as the slave question must be, in consequence of its long con- 
tinuance in many of the states of the Union. There may be, however, 
a plea of justification put forward for Mr. O'Connell, which, to the re- 
flecting Christian mind, would be deemed satisfactory. I don't think 
that Mr. O'Connell, at his time of life, is much influenced by what we 
would call worldly wisdom. His views may be, and I think are, of a 
more sublimated nature — more Christian, and more i7i accordance with 
his supposed mission. He considers himself the chosen apostle of lib- 
erty, and that he would be deviating from his high and holy vocation 
were he to sanction, by word or deed, slavery in any shape or in any 
country. He considers the condition of the negro a disgrace to your 
Republic ; and being solicitous that the great experiment which man is 
making in the way of self-government in the new world, should not suffer 
in the eyes of the despots of the old world by that foul, dark spot on 
its otherwise glorious escutcheon, he should like to see, as we would 
all like to see, the proud American eagle — the noblest bird of the 
feathered tribe — pursuing its exalted, onward course on its full-spread 
pinions, with steady gaze on the brilliant sun of its destiny, without 
being obliged to droop its wing in shame, or with downcast look to 
meaner earth, show that it still retained something in common with 
the grosser birds — the harpy brood — ^whose lusts are fleshy, who prey 
on filth, and riot in the ruin of their making. Hers should be the 
duty to teach the young eaglets of the earth, as they burst the shell 
of their thraldom, to fly upwards and onwards, and preserve their 
steady, undeviating course towards the orb of freedom, and not to in- 
duce them, by bad example, to shrink back again to the shells fi'om 
which they had been invited by the proud daring of Franklin's bird of 
freedom. She should not forget the sublime maxim of her illustrious 
parent, " De ccelo eripuit fulmcn, s'eptrumque tyrannisJ^ Mr. 'Cou- 
ncil, being anxious that the ends of Providence should be thus fully 
and fairly carried out ; that the new world which God provided for 
man as a refuge from the bondage of the old — as a land of promise 
where freedom's ark would securely and forever rest — should not pre- 
sent to the eye of the European despot God's free and rational crea- 
tures, even there in a state of bondage — the free republican, the refugee 
from slavery, turned the oppressor and taskmaster of his fellow-crea- 
tures in that chartered soil of liberty. To achieve the objects which 
Mr. 'Council has in view, his reliance is on God, and ouly on man 



72 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

when his co-operation is in accordance with God's ordinances. He be- 
lieves that he has a mission from the Divinity to redeem his country, 
and that he will be successful, even if the world were against him. 
The slightest deviation from the path of Christian rectitude would, he 
believes, compromise his mission and make it abortive. He therefore 
denounces slavery wherever he knows it to exist, and unsparingly 
lashes the tyrant wherever he finds him, making no distinction between 
the crowned Bear of Russia and the crownless Bear of Kentucky. My 
own opinion is, that the Czar of Russia, whom he hates with a perfect 
hatred, is still less odious in his eyes than the American slaveholder, 
as the one acts from principle, and the other against it — the one being 
a despot among tyrants and slaves, by birth, breeding and custom, the 
other a slaver from avarice among professed freemen, where every sur- 
rounding institution proclaims liberty as the natural and inalienable 
birthright of every child of Adam. Not to raise his voice, then, 
against such a prostitution of the name of freedom, would be deemed 
by Mr. O'Connell a betrayal of his trust, and sufficient to provoke the 
vengeance of heaven against the sacred cause of his country. More- 
over, Mr. O'Connell knows from experience that Ii-eland hitherto relied 
too much on foreign aid. He knows that nations are selfish, and seldoiti 
proffer the hand of friendship without a selfish motive. France and 
Spain were relied on hy Ireland, when Ireland should have relied on her- 
self. She failed with the selfish, doubtful and hesitating aid they af- 
forded her. Mr. O'Connell firmly hopes that icith Irish hearts, Irish 
exertions, and Providence as his protector and guide, he shall achieve, 
by purely Christian means, Ireland's independence, and he, for this rea- 
son, declines or does not seek any assistance not proceeding from the hon- 
est, the upright, and the virtuous, who love freedom for its own sake, 
and sympathise with Ireland because her cause is just. The Repeal 
movement is going on calmly and triumphantly. There are new and 
important accessions to it every day. There is less noise and more 
dignity. The people are as resolved as ever, but not impatient. They 
bide their time and God's leisure, assured that Ireland's day of pros- 
perity must come in England's hour of adversity, and what John Bull 
now holds with a tigers tenacity, he shall then yield with the meekness 
of a lamb. Jis Christians hound hy the tie of allegiance to the Crown, 
Mr, 0' Conoiell and the Catholic clergy coidd not conscientiously seek a 
separation from it. Beyond a domestic and independent legislature they 
could not go. This is another reason why Mr. O'Connell is so regard- 



LIFE OF EIGHT KEV. EDWAED MAGIN^". 73 

less of the sympathies of other nations, who ivould not hesitate to urge 
the over-ardent and the less scrupulous beyond the path of duty. 

The same year, during O'ConneH's imprisonment, he 
wrote to his sister, a resident of Montreal : 

^^ I have said so much of your friends^ that I have scarcely left my- 
self space in order to say a word about poor Ireland, and Ireland's 
immortal Liberator, Daniel O'Connell. He is now, as you already 
know, immured in a prison for his patriotism, while his indignant coun- 
trymen are forced to look on, as if they were apathetic or indifferent 
to his fate. They have now, thank God, much prudence and political 
wisdom ; they will not risk Ireland's future freedom, happiness and 
prosperity by any rash or fruitless straggle for the present. They bide 
their time, leave vengeance to the God of justice, and calmly yet con- 
fidently await the day when He, in his goodness, will enable them 
safely and securely to claim their rights, or, if you please, assert them. 
Mr. O'Connell is the apostle of peaceful regeneration ; he is anxious 
to set an example to the nations of the earth that war is no longer ne- 
cessary to achieve the liberties of mankind. He has been hitherto 
successful, and will yet, we fondly and firmly hope, live to see this pa- 
triotic and Christian problem solved, in the perfect redemption and 
regeneration of his native country. He is now, to be sure, in prison, 
suffering in the cause for v/hich others bled he is not, however, the 
less powerful by being in chains. Dan ia the lioa's den or fiery fur- 
nace is still more terrible to Ireland's enemies, than he has been on the 
heights of Tara-hill or Mullaghmast. The rent goes on accumulating 
since his imprisonment, until it has reached last week £3.400. The 
ministry that imprisoned him is tottering to its fall. All the political 
parties appear to be in confusion. The Lord appears to have con- 
founded them and reduced them to a chaos, before he makes the light 
of freedom break upon our country. They seem to be blinded and 
running headlong to their ruin, like the tyrants of Egypt before the 
deliverance of the Israelites from their bondage. Never were the Irish 
people in better hoT)es, nor more dismay among their political op- 
posers." 

In 1845, the parish clergy of Deny, according to a 

time-honored and ennoblino^ custom in the Irish Church, 
4 



74 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIXN. 

had presented three names to Eome as candidates for 
Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese. The incumbent, Dr. 
McLoughlin, being afflicted with a serious mental ail- 
ment, the whole administration would naturally fall into 
the hands of the Coadjutor. For this great trust, Mr. 
Maginn was almost unanimously named Dignissimus. 
Writing to an old friend and schoolfellow, in August of 
that year, he deprecates (and who can doubt with what 
sincerity ?) this new dignity : 

" I have hitlierto passed over your very kind congratulations, bear- 
ing on a recent nomination. The reason is, I did not consider that I 
had any occasion to congratulate myself on that event. It came upon 
me Iby surprise, and completely unnerved me. I would have much 
preferred to remain with my good, kind flock, to any dignity which 
the Church could offer, and it would have served me better to have 
taken down a pair of long beads, which have been enjoying, through 
the bustle and annoyance of a laborious mission, their otimn cum dig- 
nitate for the last twenty years, and to have busied myself with them 
for the time to come, than to grasp with an enfeebled hand a crozier, 
or to have my already too much belabored brains encumbered with 
that uneasy kind of head-dress, called a mitre. Whatever view, how- 
ever, Providence may have with respect to us, it is our duty to sub- 
mit, and under all circumstances to do our best ; no more will be ex- 
pected from us than that little.'' 

Towards the close of the year, the Bulls arrived for 
his consecration as Bishop of Orthosia ^ and Adminis- 
trator of Derry ; and the ceremony was fixed to take 
place early in January. Congratulations poured in upon 

* Orthosia, a seaport of Syria, thirty miles north of Tripoli, was a 
famous Christian fortress in the Middle Ages. It is supposed to be 
identical with the modern Tortosa. 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEV. EDWARD MAGINN. 75 

the Bisliop-elect from every part of the kingdom. Dr. 
Cantwell, Bishop of the royal Diocese of Meath, ad- 
dressing him from Dubhn, on the 15th of December, 
wrote : '' Now that the Bulls for your consecration have 
arrived, permit me to congratulate not yourself, but the 
Diocese of Derry and the Irish Church, on your eleva- 
tion to the Episcopal dignity. A mitre seldom adds to 
earthly comfort or happiness. Its thorns will, I hope, 
become gems in your eternal crown." 

The Primate, Most Eev. Dr. Crolly, thongh not so 
thoroughly national as Dr. Maginn, cheerfull}^ consented 
to assist at his consecration, "i^hile Dr. MacHale, Arch- 
bishop of T nam, the most constant patriot among the 
Prelacy, added his congratulations at the first opportu- 
nity. Dr. O'Higgins, Bishop of Ardagh, his old Profes- 
sor in the Irish College at Paris, was not in the country 
at the time the ceremony took place, but in April fol- 
lowing, on his return home, he addressed him a very 
hearty letter, explaining the cause of his absence from 
the consecration : 

" Owing to my absence from this diocese for a considerable time," 
he wrote, ^' it is only now that your lordship's esteemed letter of the 
2d January reaches me. Be pleaded to accept my warmest thanks for 
the valued invitation which that letter conveys, and believe me, there 
is no Irishman in or out of the Episcopacy who rejoices more than I 
do at your lordship's elevation. 

^' I am far from congratulating yourself on your appointment, for 
your cares will be augmented and your worldly happiness diminished, 
but I do sincerely congratulate the body to which you now belong, on 
receiving, in these trying times, so valuable an accession.'' 



76 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

The consecration took place on the 18th of January, 
1846, in the cathedral, at "Waterside. The Most Eev. 
Dr. Crolly, the Primate, officiated, assisted by the Bish- 
ops of Meath and Clogher. The Bishop of Down and 
Connor, Dr. Denvir, was also present. Eev, Philip 
Devlin read the Bulls ; the Eev. Dr. Murray, the very 
distinguished Professor of Maynooth, preached on the 
occasion, from Matthew xvi. In the evening, according 
to hospitable custom, the new Bishop entertained the 
Prelates and clergy at dinner, when the honors of the 
table were rendered by host and guests to '' His Holi- 
ness the Pope," ''the i^ueen," ''Daniel O'Connell,'' 
"His Grace the Primate," and the Eev. Preacher. The 
Primate proposed " the new Bishop," and then the or- 
dinary sentiments on such occasions were offered and 
honored. ^ 

To the people of his native province, and the faithful 
of the diocese, this event gave the greatest satisfaction. 
The inhabitarts of Derry, the Waterside, Moville, Fa- 
han, Buncrana, Maghera, Cloughcorr, Oarndonagh, 
Malin, Clonmany, Coleraine, Faughanvalle, Omagh, 
Strabane and Cappagh, contributed a purse of £200, to 
present him with a testimonial of their regard and grat- 
ification. Among the contributors were the best and 
most patriotic of Innishowen, as well a? the principal 
Catholic traders of the towns. But what must have 

* Battersby's Catholic Directory, for 1847 



LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIXN". 77 

gratified the new Bishop more than all the rest, was the 
cordial co-operation in this testimonial of the Eev. 
erend Messrs. McLeer, McCarron, Quinn, O'Kane and 
O'Longhlin, his associates in '' the Derry Discussion" of 
1828. The presents— a carriage and jaunting car — 
were presented in the school-room of St. Columba's, on 
the Friday following the consecration. Wm. McLough- 
lin, M. D., the Secretary, in the presentation address, 
referred, in these terms, to the personal merits of the 
distinguished recipient. He said : 

*' The united parishes he is about to leave — and I ma}^ add the dio- 
cese at large — can bear ample and honorable teistimony to his enthu- 
siastic and persevering exertions in diffusing among his people the 
advantages of a good and moral education. He has succeeded in 
erecting in his own parish, at great inconvenience, anxiety of mind, 
and considerable personal expense, fourteen of the largest and most 
splendid schools to be seen in any district in Ireland, the average daily 
attendance at which is between sixteen and eighteen hundred children. 
The answering and general proficiency of these children in aU the or- 
dinary branches of education, and even in some of the most abstruse 
sciences, has been the subject of admiration as well as delight to every 
one who has had the felicity of witnessing their public examinations. 
In addition to this, he has built a magnificent chapel .n Fahan, and 
begged throughout the three kingdoms to realize the means by which 
he accomplished that noble and praiseworthy undertaking. He had 
also purchased ground in the neighborliood of Buncrana, and was 
about to proceed with the erection of a second house of worship 
(which is now rapidly progressing) at the time he was elected by his 
brother clergymen to fill the important and responsible office of bishop 
of this diocese — and elected, too, with a unanimity, I believe, quite 
unprecedented in the history of episcopal elections — conduct that was 
creditable alike to the judgment and discrimination of the independent 
clergy of the diocese, as it must have been highly gratifying to tlie 
feelings of the distinguished individual himself whom they so cordially 

9 



78 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINI^. 

and unanimous!}^ supported. These are only a few among the many 
services he has rendered religion and education in his own immediate 
localit}^ ; but when we come to view his character as a public man, 
what do we find 1 We have seen him, in every instance, identifying 
himself with the people in all their struggles for civil and religious 
liberty — invariably standing by the side of the oppressed against the 
oppressor, and using his gigantic exertions to elevate the moral char- 
acter, and ameliorate the wretched and impoverished condition of his 
fellow-countrymen. Although he never acted the part of the syco- 
phant, nor courted the smiles of the magnates of the land, but, on the 
contrary, asserted his principles fearlessly and without compromise ; 
still, I have no hesitation in saying that there never was a man more 
universally esteemed by his dissenting brethren in his own neighbor- 
hood. They have always lived together on the most friendly and inti- 
mate terms ; and, although differing widely from him, and no doubt 
sincerely and conscientiously, at the same time they admire, and give 
him credit for his candor and independence. The majority of you, 
gentlemen, remember well the celebrated discussion that was held in 
this city in the year "28. You know the origin of that discussion — 
you are well aware that the countr^^, at that time, was overrun with 
persons deputed to revile, blacken and calumniate your country and 
religion, and that a deputation had actually arrived here with the view 
of establishing a branch of their society. Who, I ask you, was among 
the foremost on that occasion, to come forward and oppose these itin- 
erant fomenters of sectarian animosity 1 It was no other than the 
man whom yoa have met to honor this day ; and, when provoked 
into that discussion, he took his stand manfully (with the rest of his 
brother clergymen), and never will the people of Derry forget the 
learning, the research, the tact, the talent, the powerful and matchless 
eloquence he displayed in that flaemorable debate. He did not rest 
satisfied, either, with the celebrity and popularity he so justly earned 
on that occasion, and retire from the world to enjoy the otium cum dig- 
nitate ; no, Sir, onward was still his motto. No student has ever read 
with greater enthusiasm and assiduity than he has done since that pe- 
riod. You will be always sure to find him, several hours each day, 
occupied in that magnifiQcent library bequeathed to him by his uncle ; 
the lamented and illustrious Doctor Slevin, formerly professor in the 
college of Maynooth, and the result, gentlemen, is as it should be — 
learning and virtue and piety have received their reward ; and you 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 79 

have now placed over you one of tlie most enlightened and exemplary 
men in the Catholic Church, an^honor to your diocese and an orna- 
ment to the hierarchy of Ireland." 

In his reply, the patriot Bishop spoke, among other 
things, these: 

" I barely did my duty. He could not claim the character of the 
minister of Christ, who did not preach charity to all made in the image 
of God the Father, and redeemed by the blood of his Son, Christ. He 
would not be the minister of him who was given as a ' light for the rev- 
elation of the Gentiles' and the * glory of the people of Israel,' who 
would not have recourse to all the means in his power to endeavor to 
enlighten the youth entrusted to his spiritual care. Ireland was de- 
prived of knowledge that she might be made a slave. Instruction 
was made penal, that her faith might be filched from her in her igno- 
rance. The duty of the Catholic priesthood, who can approve only 
of moral means to redeem their country, is to make her free by know- 
ledge, and encircle her ancient faith with those lights without which 
half its beauties become invisible. The groundwork, I fondly hope, 
has been laid not only in the narrow sphere of my weak action, but 
elsewhere throughout the length and breadth of Ireland, for a new 
people who will know their rights, and as men and Christians enforce 
them — know their social duties and practice them ; who will know 
their religion, and be able, with reason's arms, to defend it. I will al- 
ways consider it a sacred duty to co-operate everywhere in the ad- 
vancement of knowledge, but of knowledge under the guidance of re- 
ligion, which shall tend not only to enlighten the mind, but to form 
the heart to virtue. To my humble advocac}^ of the perfection of tem- 
perance, it would be uncandid in me not to say that I look back with 
some pleasure, as I had an opportunity of witnessing the good results 
to society, as well as to individuals ; and, to the credit of our people 
be it spoken, that of the many thousands who, in my presence, pledged 
their faith to total abstinence, I have not known more than six or 
eight, at most, who proved faithless to their engagements. The same 
holy and saci'ed principle which made their fathers renounce titles, 
dignities, honors, wealth, their estates, liberties, and even life itself, 
sooner than take an oath which conscience did not approve, makes, in. 
Boitc of inveterate habits, and that weakness and ficklonoss for which 



80 LIFE OF BIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

mankind are so remarkable, their simple word of promise inviolable. 
For sueli a people God has surely in store a glorious destiny ! You 
were kind enough to say that I was onl}^ stern w^hen defending the 
poor against oppression. Believing the poor to be the ' treasures of 
God's Church,' I must have proved false to my vocation, had I stood 
on the side of the powerful against the weak, or of the oppressor 
against the oppressed. The ricn seldom want advocates — the poor of- 
ten. My 63'mpathies, I own, have been always with the poor and 
lowly. In this 1 have had a bright example in His conduct, who re- 
fused to go to the rulei's daughter, and went with all alacrity to the cen- 
turion's servant. I am happy to be able to record that my defence of 
the supposed rights of the poor has not hitherto lost me a friend, or 
made me a single enemy ; even those to w^hom. for the poor's sake, I 
was in a few instances opposed, on a proper understanding of my mo- 
tives, are now amongst my warmest friends. You complimented me 
on my patriotism If it be a virtue, I confess I felt and feel its influ- 
ence. If it be a crime to prefer Ireland, her honor and happiness, to 
that of any other country on earth, I plead guilty to that soft im- 
peachment. I in all sincerity pity the Irishman, bred and born in 
Ireland, who could love with equal fervor any other land on earth. 
Ireland is our second mother ; her soil is sacred for us ; her honor, 
her glory, her independence should, after God and his holy faith, en- 
list all our sympathies, excite our warmest affections, and, to promote 
them, concentrate all our energies. Difference in religious belief should 
not m.ake us forget tlie duty of loving our common country, which 
not to love would be as unnatural as it Avould be monstrously singular. 

" If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten. 
Let my tongue cleave to my jaws if I do not remember thee ; 
If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy. 
Eemember, Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem. 
"Who say, raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof. 
Oh ! daughter of Babylon miserable ; blessed shall he be 
Who shall repay thee the payments which thou hast paid us." 

Such was the song attuned to a sacred l^-re by the man after God's 
own heart. If such holy and deep devotion to country pervaded the 
breasts of all Irishmen, Ireland's tale of misery would only appear on 
the page of history, and her career of national independence and hap- 
piness w^ould date from that blissful hour. The nature of your invalua- 
ble presents, coupled with your too flattering and complimentary ad- 



LIFE OF EIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGIN^^. 81 

dress, shall, I trust, plead my apology for this lengthened and tedious 
expression of my feelings regarding both. Much as I esteem your gifts 
and good opinion of me, I esteem your prayers to the throne of mercy 
for me more. I cherish the hope that you, on your part, will be un- 
ceasing in 3^our orisons to the Giver of all good gifts, that I may know 
and efficiently discharge all the duties I owe to a clergy so pious, and 
a people so generous and devoted. It wdll be my highest ambition 
and not less my duty, aided, as I trust in God"s goodness to be by his 
grace, to devote myself and all my energies to your service and that 
of our holy religion, making up by single-mindedness and untiring 
zeal what I want in ability. My earnest and constant prayers will be 
to God, that he may, from the treasures of his mercy, recompense 
your pious liberality ; and as you have neared for me the distances and 
made my labors lightsome, that he may near to you his mercy, and 
* enrich you in all utterance and in all knowledge, as the testimony of 
Christ is confirmed in you, so. that nothing be wanting to you in any 
grd.ce, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ,' (St. 
Paul to Cor., 1st chap.), so that we may all one day come to embrace 
each other in holy charity in heaven, and recognize each other as the 
lovers of the same amiable Lord, met there to be inseparable compan- 
ions in the love of our Saviour Jesus, face to face, for ever and ever. 
Amen. ^ 

Such, were the sentiments with which, in one of the 
darkest and most melancholy days of Ireland's fortune, 
the new Bishop of Derry assumed his high duties ; and 
such were the feelings with which his neighbors, his sub- 
jects, his countrymen, and his brethren of the Hierarchy 
beheld his well-deserved elevation. 

As the views of Dr. Maginn in relation to the unfor- 
tunate division of the Irish national party, in 18i6, have 
been often mistaken and sometimes misrepresented, it is 
our duty to give those views here, in his own emphatic 
language. In December, 1846, writing to the Most 



82 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

Eev. Dr. Hughes, of New York, lie expresses himself in 

these terms of the Young Ireland party : 

" "We have now a Young and an Old Ireland ; Young Ireland half 
crazy, strutting with not less pompous folly than distinguished Spaol- 
let's Sir Launcelot Greaves, armed capapie with a rusty sword and 
gun, harnessed with steel and bristling with fury ; talking of war and 
revolutions, of deposing leaders, and taking the whole management of 
our concerns into their prudent, steady hands. Old Ireland sticks, of 
course, to its old experienced leader, Mr. O'Connell, and is stupid 
enough to imagine that he alone is capable of steering the vessel 
through the stormy sea and against the adverse winds with which now, 
more than ever, she has to contend. Mr. O'Connell is too pious, too 
Catholic and too cautious for the young blood of Dublin. Religion 
must be divorced from Irish politics, and heaven's blessing disre- 
garded, or there is no hope for Ireland." 

To a near relative in the same city, he wrote, under 

the same date : 

'' The curse of Division is still on Ireland's children. Some of our 
young men, forgetting the saviour of their country and blaspheming 
the hands that struck the fetters from their own limbs and those of 
their parents, would wish to be leaders, whilst they should still be, as 
every man of sense avows, in their mammas' leading-strings. I was 
sorry to find from your letter to me, that you feel with them and for 
them. Your distance from us prevents you from seeing matters as 
they really are. The ashes and smoke which the Young Irelander in 
his fury occasions are seen in America, whereas the impure elements 
from which they have been emitted are concealed from your view. 
Pride, petulance, reckless ambition and the intoxication of a little 
learning, the fruitful parent of impiety and irreligion, mixed up with a 
little enthusiasm and a large ingredient of treachery for filthy lucre's 
sake, are the component parts, the fuel of this new rabid and fiery op- 
position. Mr. O'Connell, as you may perceive, has lately put them 
wholly in the wicng, and put you, I fondly hope, right on the subject." 

At the beginning of the year 1847, in forwarding the 
annual subscriptions of himself and several of his clergy. 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 83 

to the Eepeal Association, he wrote a letter to Mr. John 
O'Connell, of which the following is the principal 
passage : 

^' It is a pity, in this year of Ireland's misery, wlien we should alto- 
gether hold up the shield of hope to the city of Hai, when the whole 
people of Ireland should have only one heart and one soul, pressing 
forward in serried ranks to their country's rescue, to find some of the 
young blood of Ireland desecrating those talents with which God in- 
vested them for the benefit of their race, to the iinhallowed cause of 
dissension, thereby weakening the national strength, and affording a 
triumph to her enemies, by exhibiting to them what has always been 
Ireland's ruin — a divided people. 

''We cherished the hope that the sincere and earnest among them 
would have listened to your Father's counsels, and once more ranged 
themselves with him under his peaceful national banner. The hope, it 
seems, was vain ; they have denounced conciliation, preferring the 
fond idolatry of their youthful visions to their country's good. Among 
the seceders, I believe there are many more deluded than deluding, 
the dupes of crafty and designing men, who have practiced on their 
generous natures, and made them subserve their own treacherous or 
ambitious purposes. They should know well that their present course 
may produce much evil, but cannot eventuate in any good. If they 
conceived that they could substitute, in the affections of Irishmen, an- 
other leader, or encircle that leader with the confidence of Uxq Irish 
people, they grossly deceived themselves. They will find themselves, 
after having fully made the experiment, in the situation of other sepa- 
ratists, who warred with another Liberator in almost parallel circum- 
stances — for between the ancient and modern liberators and the peo- 
ple liberated, there are striking features of resemblance — all alone in 
their glory, their rods without bud or blossom, and scathed by the 
burning anathemas of an injured nation. I would. Sir, hate my race, 
and curse it with more bitterness than a David did an Edom, could I 
think it capable of such base ingratitude as to desert your venerable 
father in his now onward course to his crowning triumph, victorious, 
as he has been in a thousand fights, after having strangled the serpent 
of bigotry with a Titan's strength, and forced haughty England to un- 
bar her Senate to the hated Catholic Celt — made the slave the lords of 
our cities or the colleges, ermincd judges on our bench, and what we 



8i LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

prized above all, as for them we su^ered all, made our altars free. 
When in Dublin lately, I saw Mm for the first time ; I touched that 
hand which tore to pieces the penal code ; I hung on that voice which 
so oft thrilled the soul of Ireland, sweeter, softer than the tones of a 
lute, and drank with avidity the words dropping from his lips, gently 
as the flakes of descending snow, and more refreshing than the dews 
of a summer's night. I gazed in raptures upon that countenance mel- 
lowed with age and religion ; I thought of that big heart which only 
beats for his country's good, and looked on the whole man as if, as 
such, formed 'bj God to be the dux populi, as the mountain was created 
by Him to break th*e rain-cloud, and convey its refreshing waters to 
the valleys ; and I shuddered at what I knew to be a sad reality, that 
his fair fiime, whiter, purer than the ermine's fur, was attempted to be 
sullied by the foul aspersions of even those whom he pressed to his 
bosom, taught at the school of his wisdom, and held up to the honor 
of his country with a more than parental solicitude. Of my own im- 
pressions delicacy prevents me from saying more, as I am writing to 
the son of this venerable father ; but this I would advise, if there be 
any Irishman wickedly forgetful of the deep debt of gratitude he owes 
him, let him go and spend a few moments in his company, and ii he be 
not cured of his infidelity after having looked upon that venerable 
oak which bore the brunt of the warring elements for nearly half a 
century for his sake, with all his well-earned honors upon him, I would 
say that he is incurable, and unworthy to be associated with such a 
benefactor. For the Young Irelander, with all the enthusiasm of youth 
about him ; impatient of the wrongs which his country suffers, with 
feverish dreams of glory to be won for fatherland, anxious for one 
bold stroke that would forever prostrate the Saxon, and disenthral his 
race ; for him to forget his parent's order, and in his fiery zeal, like a 
young Manlius, rush from the ranka of his prudent, experienced leader, 
because he moved with over-cautious step towards the same goal ; an 
excuse, if such there be for any, might be found for him in his way- 
ward course. But what excuse can be found for the ungrateful Levites 
for turning away from this modern Moses, by whose indomitable energy 
the fetters were struck from his limbs, his creed, temple and order 
emancipated from a thraldom worse than that of Pharaoh, and going 
over to the house of some Michas, to serve him and his silver god, and 
with the venom of asps on their lips, and their throat a gaping sepul- 
chre, to immolate, at this new idol's shrine, the character of his liber- 



LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 85 

ator. Were I sure that such were accountable beings, with the ordi- 
nary feelings of men, having the power, as they have the will, to 
wound, I would say to them, in sober earnestness, no matter at whom 
you aim your battle-ax, 

* Oh I woodman spare that tree, 
Touch not a single bongh ; 
In youth it sheltered thee, 
Thou shouldst protect it now. 
That old familiar tree, 
Whose glory and renown 
Are famed o'er land and sea — 
Say wouldst thou hack it down?' 

*'The justice of your father would not be, as it is, Platonic, if it had 
not such trials to encounter, and did not meet with ingratitude even 
at the hands it most befriended. But, as hitherto, every tongue that 
speaks against him shall not prosper. He has with him the common 
sense of Ireland. Religion covers him with her sacred mantle, and 
those who love that daughter of heaven more dearly than life, will 
never permit the image of O'Connell to be severed from hers in the 
sanctuary of their hearts." 

It is apparent from his letters in 1848, tliat the Bishop 
had greatly modified his views of the personal character 
and qualities of the principal Young Irelanders. This 
also, in justice to his memory, we shall have to show from 
under his own hand. But it ought to be known, and 
will now be put beyond dispute, that that member of the 
Irish Hierarchy, supposed to be constitutionally of most 
martial character, wholly disapproved from the outset, 
and until the end of his life continued to disapprove, the 
deplorable " secession" of 1846. For the seceeders per- 
sonally, we will bye and bye find him expressing a high 
personal regard, and something nearly akin to admira- 
tion. As for their principles, their policy, their political 
system, none of the documents he has left expresses any 



86 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

other sentiment than regret, or pity, or condemnation. 
' — A few words in this place on the energy of Dr. Maginn's 
administration of Derry. For six years previously the 
diocese might be said, in consequence of Dr. McLaughlin's 
affliction, to be without a Bishop. But now Mr. Magina 
was no sooner appointed than new life was poured into 
every Catholic enterprise. Six new churches were de- 
dicated, and about eleven thousand children and adults 
confirmed, in the first year after his consecration. So- 
cieties of the Living Eosary, Sunday-schools, and paro- 
chial circulating libraries, were established in almost 
every parish. The diocesan collection for the ^' Society 
for the Propagation of the Faith" was considerably aug- 
mented. Simultaneously, the Sisters of Charity and the 
Christian Brothers were introduced, and a spacious build- 
ing known as ^^ the County House," adjoining the Pro- 
testant (confiscated) Cathedral, was purchased for a Sem- 
inary, and dedicated to that lioly object, under the title 
of St. Columba. Here, when in the city, the Bishop re- 
sided, often encouraging and .mingling with the students, 
who were destined to be the future pastors of the churches 
committed to his care. With these as with his clergy 
^'he was more like an elder brother than a Bishop," set- 
ting to all the brightest example of vigilance, piety, la- 
bor, and disinterestedness. In Iiis attention to national 
affairs he never lost sight of the paramount claims of his 
own diocese, to his daily care and hourly exertions. 



CHAPTBE IV. 

DR, MAGINN's evidence BEFORE LORD DEVON's "COMMISSION ON THE 
OCCUPATION OF LAND IN IRELAND" — FREQUENT MALADMINISTRA- 
TION OF THE POOR LAW — THE FAMINE AND THE OFFICIALS — HIS 
INDIGNATION AT THE DESTRUCTION OF HUMAN LIFE — HIS INCES- 
SANT EFFORTS TO RELIEVE THE POOR — STRONGLY OPPOSES THE 
PROPOSED Vl^HOLESALE EMIGRATION TO CANADA — "SOCIETY FOJl 
THE CONSERVATION OF THE FAITH." 

The Latin rite for the consecration of a Bishop pre 
scribes an examination of the postulant, in which among 
other questions, it is demanded of him, "Wilt thou be 
affable and merciful to the poor, to strangers, and to all 
indigent persons on account of the name of the Lord ?" 
And the Elect answers, "I will." Perhaps no Bishop 
of modern times ever made that solemn affirmative more 
ardently than Dr. Maginn. All his life long he had been 
affable and merciful to the poor, their advocate, adviser, 
protector, friend, in all their afflictions and privations. 
We have purposedly omitted in the previous chapters 
some of the evidences of his loving and watchful care of 
the poor, which were before us, and to which we now 



88 LIFE OF KIGHT REV. EDWARD :MAGINN'. 

beg the reader wlio is resolved fully to understand this 
noble character, to lend his patient consideration. 

Of Dr. Maginn's attention to social questions, we have 
already spoken. Among these by far the most impor- 
tant in Ireland, is that which involves the tenure of land. 
The question itself is old as '' the Reformation," and quite 
as deplorable. It was the fruitful source of wars, confis- 
cation, legislation, and agitation for three centuries. Dr. 
French and Dr. Swift had plied their pens upon it ; a 
Bacon, a Strafford, an Ormond, a Chesterfield, a Bedford, 
had acknowledged its paramount importance. When, 
therefore, in 1844, the Imperial Parliament for the first 
time since the last confiscation under AYilliam III., or- 
dered an Imperial commission to incjuire into the " Occu- 
pation of Land in Ireland," every reformer saw reason to 
expect some prospective good. The Province of Ulster, 
as the home of the usage or custom called '• Tenant-right" 
was likely to occupy a great deal of attention, and there 
Mr. Maginn, among many others, prepared himself to be 
examined before the commission. He issued a circular 
to his brother clergymen, and to others throughout the 
diocese, asking for answers to a long series of practical 
questions, and the information thus obtained he carefully 
digested for public effect. His examination occupied 
more time than that of any other witness in his county, 
with a single exception, and for its intrinsic interest, as 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIISTN. 89 

well as being his, deserves to be given entire — as it is, at 
the end of this volume."^ 

Another subject which never left his mind, v/as the 
administration of the nevf Poor Law. The operations of 
this law, unheard of in Ireland, introduced new relations 
and a new machinery into its social life : the relations 
of the rate-payers to the poor, of " the paupers" (an abom- 
inable term !) to their guardians, of the guardians to the 
clergy of the people, of the government to the clergy and 
the guardians, were all to be established and regulated 
by experience rather than by statute. The patriot Pas- 
tor and Bishop could well remember the time ere Irish 
mendicancy had expanded to imperial proportions ; when 
the honest beggar was welcome to every kitchen corner 
and every peasant's table; when destitution, though never 
accounted a crime, was never confessed until the last re- 
sources of long, patient penury had failed ; when, if an 
honest man was driven to beg, he crept out in the 
grey of evening, and stood, Avith averted face, in the 
shadow of some house or street corner, silently pleading 
for the morsel of food he could no longer earn. As a 
man of heart and of head, the new provisions for the 
poor, estiiblished by law, continually occupied Mr. Ma- 
ginn's" attention. In 1847, when the failure of the 
potato crop flung one-third of the peasantry into the 
gulf of abject pauperism, the new Bishop had ample 

* See Appendix. 



90 LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGIN:N". 

opportunities for the exercise of all liis energies in their 
behalf. Some transactions of this year, connected with 
the administration of the Poor Law at Newtownliman- 
ady, at Omagh, at Waterside, and at Cardonagh, were 
brought by him to the knowledge of the Lord Lieute- 
nant and the public. The following remonstrance we 
give, as a specimen of" his energetic correspondence with 
Dublin Castle, at that period : 

Londonderry, Jan. 22, 1847. 
May it please ycncr Excellency : 

In consequence of a report having been made to me of great num- 
bers of the poor dying off daily in the Omagh workhouse, I consid- 
ered it my duty, as said work-house is within the precincts of this dio- 
cese, to have the strictest inquiry made by one of my clergymen into 
the facts of the case as submitted to me. I regret to have to state to 
3'our Excellency that the result of this inquiry more than confirmed 
the appalling communications I had from that quarter. During the 
month of last December, one hundred individuals fell victims, in this 
work-house, to dysentery and scarletina. From the first of this month 
till the 17th, more died of the same diseases, I have not been made 
aware that any special means were resorted to to stay this mortality. 
I am, on the contrary, led to believe that the perishing multitudes 
scarcely excited any particular notice from the guardians. May it 
please your Excellency, there is no civilized country in the world 
where such an appalling event would not at once be brought under 
the notice of the proper authorities, and receive from them immediate 
attention. Believing in your Excellency's humanity, I leave this case 
in your hands, with all confidence that you will not allow Her Majes- 
ty's subjects to die off in hundreds in an establishment benevolently 
designed for the preservation of their lives, without having an investi- 
gation ordered into the causes which may have caused this mortality. 
I have the honor to be, with most profound esteem. 

Your Excellency's most obedient servant, 

1^ Ed. Maginn. 

I beg most respectfull}^ to submit that it would be in accordance 
with the wishes of some of the most respectable and humane in that 



LIFE OF RIGHT EEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 91 

neighborhood, were some eminent and trustworthy physician in your 
Excellency's confidence to be sent down with powers to examine into 
the aforesaid deaths, and the kind of treatment they receive during 
their illness. 

Unfortunately, the extraordinary macliinery erected 
by the Irish government in that year, to meet the urgen- 
cies of the case, was placed, for the most part, in utterly 
incompetent hands. Sir John Burgoyne, Sir Harry 
Jones, Sir Eandolph Eouth, and other imbecile officials, 
many of whom have since betrayed their gross incom- 
petency on the more conspicuous, but not more fatal 
fields of the Crimea, were placed at the head of the 
system. Their local appointments were made, for the 
most part, from partisan or sectarian partialities. In 
Innishowen this was notably the case, as we find Bishop 
Maginn writing to the new Lord Lieutenant, in the 
month of March. We give this letter : 

BuNCRANA, 3Iarch 21, 1847. 
To His Excellency the Earl of Beshorough : 

My Lord. — As this is the first intrusion on your Excellency's pre- 
cious time which I have made, it will, I fondly hope, be looked on with 
special indulgence. I should not even have made this trespass, were I 
not urged to it by a deep sense of the duty which the position I hold, 
relatively to the suffering jDoor of this barony, has imposed upon me. 
I might, my lord, add to this my anxiety that your Excellency's ad- 
ministration should escape the odium which must be attached by the 
Catholic public to certain acts said to be done under your high name and 
sanction. I therefore respectfully solicit your Excellency's attention 
to statements made to us by J. C. Deane, Esq., inspecting officer un- 
der the Relief Commission for the Innishowen Union. The first that 
your Excellency had appointed, George Young, Esq,, CuldafF, John 
Harvey, Esq., Malin Ilall, Mr. Corbitt, ex-inspector of the butter-mar- 



92 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

ket, Derry, and Mr. Moore, doer for Mr. Attorney Rankin, with a few 
acres of land in the neighborhood of Carndonagh, whose son has been 
lately elevated to the clerkship of the work-house, at a salary of £30 
per annum, to act as finance committee under the 10 Victoria C 7, and 
superintend the distribution of the relief intended by that benevolent 
enactment to be imparted to the starving thousands in this barony. I 
assure your Excellency that I could scarcely believe my senses on lis- 
tening to this statement made by Mr. Deane, and I am sure there is 
not a Catholic in this barony who will not feel amazed on being made 
aware of the constitution of the finance committee. I consider i6 a 
duty to inform your Excellency that the aforesaid gentlemen have 
not, nor should the^^ have the confidence of the Catholic communit}^ — 
the nine-tenths of the inhabitants of Innishowen. They are by no 
means such individuals as we could, with any feeling for our poor, re- 
commend or confide in under the appalling circumstances of these 
times. I do not take any exception to their religion, Presbyterian and 
Protestant, as a man's religion in such cases should not be questioned. 
Our want of confidence in them is based on altogether different grounds. 
They liave ever been politically opposed to the great majority of the 
people. Some of them were conspicuously intolerant in religious 
matters, and in some instances disregarding the rights of conscience, 
and anything but respectful to the creed of their neighbors. Some of 
them made more Catholic exiles from the homesteads of their fathers 
than any in this county, and substituted in their stead persons not 
less offensive or bigoted than themselves. Your Excellency will per- 
ceive that it is not wonderful such appointments could not be justly 
expected to meet with favor in our eyes. What appears to us passing 
strange is how, in a barony where the Catholics are as ten to one, 
many of them large proprietors, w4th more real wealth and more un- 
encumbered property than any others of any sect in the barony pos- 
sess, the afore-mentioned gentlemen could be selected, and Catholics 
vastly their superiors in mental culture and intellect, as well as opu- 
lence^ — who at all times abetted Whig principles, gave their votes to 
Whig candidates in the county, met and presided at large baronial 
meetings to keep in Whig ministries, whilst the members of our finfince 
committee were arranged on the opposite side, only remarkable for 
their virulence and unmeasured hostility to Whigery, and everything 
bearing the character of liberality — have been passed over unnoticed 
when such a committee of surpassing trust and awful responsibility 

9 



LIFE OF BIGHT REY. EDWARD MAGINN. 93 

was constituted. I say it, my lord, with all deference, would it have 
been too much for the Catholics of Innishowen to expect from your 
Excellency the appointment of some one or two of their body on that 
finance committee, in whom they could have faith as taking an inter- 
est in the preservation of the lives of our poor people 1 There was 
in Mr. Moore's neighborhood a young man, heir to a considerable 
property — John Doherty, Esq., of Carndonagh — whose dying uncle 
contributed more this year to the relief of the poor of this barony, 
than the entire proprietors, perhaps, of the whole County Donegal, 
and who, during his life-time, gave more in charity to the poor than 
the half of the Tories in the county — a young gentleman of intellect 
and mental adornments vastly superior to any of the squirearchy in 
this union. Was it seemly to have passed him over, and to have ap- 
pointed such a man as Mr. Moore, with no mental culture and with 
only a ten or twenty-acre farm of land. Believe me, my lord, no 
other reason will be assigned for it, but that one happened to be a 
Presbyterian and the other a Catholic. If this be the way of estab- 
lishing religious equality, and inspiring us Catholics with confidence 
in the equity of British rule, I fear much that it will not have * * 
* *■ * a most solemn duty — a duty I owed your Excellency, my- 
self and the Catholic community. 

I have the honor to remain, my lord, 

Your Excellency's obedient servant, 

►J< E. Maginnt. 

In April, an aged woman, named Elizabeth Byrne, 
having died of destitution near Buncrana, from being 
refused the usual out-of-door relief, (nine pence per 
week) the coroner's jury returned an inquest accord- 
ingly, and Bishop Maginn made their verdict the text 
of an animated correspondence with the Poor Law 
Commissioners. Sometimes, as in this case, the local 
oi5Eicials succeeded in defeating the ends of justice; but 
more frequently, as in the cases at Ne^vtownlimavady, 
Omagh and Waterside, inquiry being granted, the 



94 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

Bishop and the chaplains were gratified at finding unfit 
employees dismissed or better regulations made, in con- 
sequence of their remonstrances. 

The sufferings of the Irish poor, in that terrible year, 
drew from the most distant nations spontaneous offer- 
ings of pecuniary assistance. The United States de- 
serve the first place among the benefactors of that 
nation. France, Italy and Germany were not insensible 
to her cries. Mr. Maginn was usually made the agent 
of this benevolence for his part of the island ; and per- 
haps we cannot do better than give here his eloquent 
acknowledgment of donations from the Paris Com- 
mittee. The following letter on this subject is without 
date, but was evidently written in the summer of 1847 : 

Dear Sir : — I may, I presume, address these friendly, familiar terms, 
after tlie kind acquaintance that I have formed with you by your ex- 
treme attention to us in the hour of our need. I beg to acknowledge 
two golden favors from you, the one conveying £160 sterling, the 
other — the last I had from you — £200 sterling. 

To you and the charitable contributors who made you the channel 
of these remittances, I beg to express the assurance of our undying 
gratitude, and the unceasing prayers and benedictions of our numerous 
poor relieved by them. Out of the evils that have befallen our coun- 
try, God is working this good. He is exhibiting to those that are 
without, the loveliness and beauty of Catholic communion, with all its 
endearing practical sympathies. The remotest members of the mystic 
body, so interested in the common weal, well-being, feeling for and 
communicating to the wants of their distant brethren, and illustrating 
by these sweet manifestations of soul of charity that pervades each 
and all the beneficent sentiments of the Great Apostle of jS'ationSi 
"who is on fire with whom I do not burn; who is suffering with 
whom I do not suffer." 



LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINK 95 

France, as became her, being the heart of CathoUc Christianity 
through her magnanimous prelates, the ornaments of the Church of 
God, not less by their learning than by their charity, has been pre- 
eminent in this work of beneficence. In olden times she was the 
refuge of our exiles for conscience' sake, now she is the benefactress of 
our starving poor — still the same France to Ireland that she was in 
the days of the illustrious Vincent de Paul. She then shared with 
them the bread that was necessary for her own starving poor ; she, 
during the present year, came again to the rescue of our famishing 
people, even w^ien her own children were suffering from the severest 
visitations. If ever, in the councils of God, it be decreed for our coun- 
try to become an independent, prosperous nation, may she forget her 
right hand's cunning if she forgets her Catholic-Irish France. It is 
with much pain, dear sir, that I have to inform you that our miseries 
do not seem to have passed away with the last year's awful catas- 
trophe. ISTo. The present forebodes to us even a more direful story. 
Last 3^ear we had many resources, at home and abroad ; this year they 
are all, I may say, exhausted. The little means the poor people had 
by them were List year expended to preserve life. They were enabled 
to seed their grounds and feed themselves. Their crop, therefore, 
their only hope of subsistence, falls far short of the usual produce. 

The landlord, whose rapacity was stayed, stunned as he was by the 
sudden calamity that befel us, and trembling for the results, the moni- 
tor conscience upbraiding him that he was the principal cause of the 
misery of the Irish peasant, suspended for a season his exactions. 
Having had, however, time to take breath, and being encouraged b}' a 
promise of support from our kind government, to enable him with 
safety to extort the last morsel of bread from his famishing tenant, he has 
not awaited even the gathering in of the harvest to force his rents, but, 
like a hungry tiger, pounces on his victims while collecting the fruits 
of the earth that God sent them to feed upon for another 3^ear, and un- 
relentingly carries away the small produce of their toil and labor, 
leaving themselves and their naked, shivering, starving families, in the 
comfortless cabins t^ die ; or if they cannot find a sufficiency to pay 
their back rents, regardless of the bitter blast of the coming winter or 
of the sufferings of the ejected poor forced to wander, without home 
or shelter, over the land of their fathers, they leveled to the earth their 
cottages and turned to sheep-walks or pasture-grounds for #lieir oxen, 
the sacred spots in which beings made to the image of God dwelt, they 



96 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINIST. 

and their fathers, centuries before these alien monsters came to fatten 
on the spoils of Ireland. 

To give you sonie idea of the extent of the misery that is nearing to 
us with the dark clouds of winter, I beg to submit one or two facts : 
In the diocese of Derry we have a Catholic population of 230,000 
souls ; of these, at the present time, there are at least 50,000 in actual 
starvation. Before the first of March, in consequence of the landlords 
having forced their tenantry to pay at least, each and all, a year's rent 
out of the crop of the season, 100,000 more will be in the same desti- 
tute condition. 

"We have, it is true, a poor law. Its principle is excellent. I say it 
in justice to the Whigs ; the excellency of this principle is theirs. Tho 
Tories, however, took such care to clog the principle with so many in- 
geniously devised obstructions, that the law has become inoperative 
and nearl}' useless as a mode of relief They took care to have the 
victims of oppression handed over to the keeping of their oppressors, 
making the very persons the guardians of the poor who made them 
poor. The shorn lamb is being entrusted to the wolf's protection; 
the helpless dove is being remitted to the falcon and the vulture for 
the grain of corn that must keep it from starving. This, Sir, is British 
legislation for Ireland. We are now about to have a coercion bill from 
them. We crv for bread, and the aid they give us is in thumbscrews, 
racks and tortures. We call upon them as responsible for the lives 
of the people they govern, to come at once and feed our famishing 
poor, and they answer our petitions w^ith a Ko, as Britain has ever 
done, and an intelligible hint that they have in readiness for us, instead 
of provisions, bayonets and musket-balls. They seek their justification 
for this treatment in a few murders that have taken place in the south 
— murders which as Christians we deplore, and as Irishmen deeply 
regret ; but that all Ireland should be calumniated, her poor neglected 
and allowed to die of starvation, because a few in one or two counties, 
driven to despair by oppression and want, in seeing their wives re- 
duced with hunger to hideous skeletons, and their children dying for 
want of food in the arms of their famished mothers, their cottages ia 
ruins and themselves deemed an encumbrance on the land of their 
birth, in their reckless despair, looking on earth and heaven as their 
enemy, they forget the command, " Thou shalt not kill" — a command- 
ment they see disregarded by those who should most feel its obligation 
and set to them the example of forbearance — cast themselves upon 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 97 

those whom they believe to be the can^e of their misery, hurling them 
before them into their graves, which they saw had been dug and pre- 
pared for themselves. Why not trace these murders to their proper 
causes, and supply the only remedy for the redress of wrongs that 
have become unbearable 1 They cry out, " O these Irish murderers !" 
If they had any other nation under heaven but Catholic Ireland to 
deal with, schooled by its clergy into patience which has no example 
in the history of the Avorld, not even among the Christians in the cata- 
combs — for the rule of Nero or Dioclesian was nothing to the rule of 
Ireland — they would have long since experienced that there was a point 
beyond which humanity does not endure, and the tyrants would have 
been taught a lesson which would have appalled the earth, making 
the strong without mercy tremble in the high places. Virginius 
killed his own daughter sooner than allow her to live a blasted flower 
of disgrace and misery, and with the bloody dagger at hand, appealed 
to Rome for his justification. Any other nation but Ireland, ever full 
as she has been, of faith and of hope, big with immortality, the recom- 
pense of patient endurance, would have arisen like one man, and felling 
with their chains and fetters their oppressors, or perishing in the at- 
tempt, would have exclaimed with the ancient Roman, "A day, an hour 
of liberty, is worth an eternity of bondage !"' 

Anxious to oppress the people, or allow them to perish through des- 
tiiution, they wish to silence their clergy by the vilest vituperation 
against their character. To get at the sheep with impunity, they wish 
to muzzle the shepherd, knowing well that they will not suffer the 
oppression of those who are so dear to them without reclamation, 
without an appeal to the sympathies of the world. By their atrocious 
imputations they expect to blacken them before men, so that their 
cries to humanity in behalf of their flocks might pass unheeded and 
unattended to. They would blacken the whole Irish race, that they 
might be victimized without commiseration, seeking the justificatio-a 
, of their inhumanity or barbarity in the depravity of the race they im- 
molated. Like the alconda of Ceylon, which is wont to lick over with 
its forked tongue, and cover with its poisonous slabber the prey it in- 
tends to devour, our enemies besmear us with their foul-mouthed slan- 
ders, that they may the more easily swallow us down. 

When I reflect on the unhappy state of our country ; on the wronj^s 
she endured for ages in every locality 5 on the utter helplessness of our 
poor, and when I consider that man's rule and not God's was the cause 



98 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIN:S" 

of this ruin, J have been oft almost forced to forget the character be- 
coming a Christian bishop, and yielding to the feelings of outraged 
humanity, to cry out to the God of justice, ^' How long, O Lord, how 
long ?'' or to say with the royal prophet, contemplating in the distance 
of time, something similar to otir condition, Babylon's sway in his own 
beautiful Palestine, the temple raised by his own son a hideous ruin, 
his own Jerusalem plundered and racked by the heathen invader, the 
Bons and daughters of his people bending down beneath the weight of 
their slavery, and in their sorrow hang their harps on the banks of the 
Euphrates, far, far away from the hills of their fathers, and from their 
own placid, beautiful Jordan, whose banks had so often echoed with 
their songs of joy, '• Beatus qui alidet parviculos eontm in pctrconJ^ The 
religion of mercy and forgiveness, however, forbids the aspiration and 
invites us to bow our head in resignation to the will of that God who 
is patient, because he is eternal, aLd who has reserved a day for all 
things, when the just and the wicked shall be judged. You will, I am 
sure, sir, find an apology for the length of this letter in the feelings 
that gave occasion to it. It is the outpouring of a heart deeply sympa- 
thizing with its sujSering country, and naturally resenting the wrongs it 
endures and has endured for centuries. After God,' there is no conso- 
lation so sweet to the wounded spirit as to have friends into whose bo- 
soms we can confidently pour the secrets of our grief — friends who feel 
with us and for us, and whom we know to be ready to wipe the tear 
from sorrow's cheek, and pluck, as far as in them lies, the sword of 
tribulation from the heart. 

Permit me, Sir, again, in the name of the destitute of the diocese 
of Derry, and in my own name, to express to you, in the most deepfelt 
and warmest emotion of Irish hearts, our thankfulness to you, all the 
members of the Irish Relief Committee at Paris, and to all the chari- 
table throughout France, who in any way contributed to the relief of 
our poor. May the God who is charity repay them one hundred fold 
for their beneficence to us — make them happy on earth, and the co- 
heirs of his own Divine Son in that kingdom, the sure inheritance of 
all who scatter and give to the poor, who are merciful, compassionate 
and just, is the fervent, heartfelt prayer of your most faithful, obliged 
and devoted servant, ►Ji E. MAomx. 

From Boston, New York, and Montreal he also re- 
ceived and acknowledged, with his usual eloquence, 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 99 

handsome donations for the use of the poor. From his 
correspondence at that period, we shall give here one 
other letter, referring the reader to the Appendix for 
further correspondence relating to the Famine. It is 
from Dr. Cullen, then President of the Irish College at 
Eome. 

Ieish College, March 16, 1847, 
Mij Lord,-~l beg to forward to your lordship a bill for £20, to be 
applied by way of charity to the relief of the poor. The person who 
contributed this sum — the Rt. Rev. Dr. Mnrphy, Bishop of Hyderabud 
— expressed a wish that it should be sent to your diocese. 

The accounts we receive here of the state of poor Ireland are most 
heart-rending. Our good, holy Father the Pope feels most intensely 
for the afaictions of his long-tried and faithful children. He inquires 
about them every day. All the good Romans enter fully into the feel- 
ings of the Pope. Their sympathy is great for Ireland, and they are 
sending most fervent prayers to the Moi^^t High to beg of him to spare 
our country, and to avert the calamity which is weighing so heavily 
on it. Your lordship has heard before now that His Holiness contrib- 
uted, last January, the munificent sum of one thousand dollars, to be 
a^pplied to.the relief of the poor Irish. Ere yesterday he told me that 
he would give as much more in a few days, out of his own slender 
means, and that he had also determined in the same way to supply two 
or throe thousand dollars, which some pious ladies had collected, to be 
devoted to charitable purposes, and which they put at the Pope's dis- 
posal. This fact will speak volumes for the Pope's charity, and his 
attaohment to our poor people. What" a blessing of Providence to 
have sueh a man in the chair of Peter, in these times of misery and 
calamity ! I hope that the Catholics in every part of the world will 
become ijiore and more attached to their chief pastor, that they will 
glory in. "having so much virtue in so exalted a situation, and that all 
will vie in imitating the example of charity which has been given by 
the centre of unity. May we not also hope that those who shook off the 
paternal authority of Rome, and wandered away into the j)ath of error, 
will at length open their eyes to their misery and spiritual destitution, 
and return to the house, and acknowledge the authority of so good a 



100 LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 

father ? They ought to know that where true charity resides, there 
also true faith is to be found. With what facility would not distress 
be relieved, if all Christians were united in professing the same faith, 
and if all were obedient to the voice of the holy successor of St. Peter 
— if there were but one sheepfold and one pastor? 

I am sorry to inform your lordship that there is great want in Italy 
this year. Here in Rome provisions are scarce and dear, but the char- 
ity of the rich is so great that there is no destitution and no starva- 
tion. The nobles here treat the poor with the utmost kindness ; they 
do not think it beneath their dignity to distribute alms with their own 
hands, to visit the abodes of the poor, and to find out and console 
those who are really in need. You would be surprised to see how 
comfortably the very poorest people here are clad, though clothing 
cost at least twice as much as in Ireland. The spirit that prevails here 
in regard to poverty, is quite different from that which is dictated by 
the cold lessons of political economy. In the public establishments here 
for the poor, the bo} s and girls are draped in a most respectable man- 
ner, and their diet is very nearly the same as that which is given in 
colleges. They are treated as members of Jesus Christ, not as slaves 
or as a burden to the earth. The Pope has visited all the public es- 
tablishments in Rome, and his kindness and affability to the lowest of 
the poor have added greatly to the affection which all classes entertain 
for him. I hope the poor in Ireland will unite their prayers with t^hose 
of the good Romans, to obtain from God, for so good a Pontiff, a long 
and happy reign. 

I forgot to mention that we had public prayers in Rome for Ireland. 
These few days back we have had a novena in the church of St. 
Agatha in honor of St. Patrick, to beg of him to intercede far the 
country which was the theatre of his labors, and where he gained that 
crown of glory which distinguishes him. We had the rosary each eve- 
ning, an English sermon, the litanies of the saints, the prayers pre- 
scribed by the ritual in time of famine, and in the end Benediction wi1!Si 
the Blessed Sacrament. I hope they have had public prayers in every 
part of Ireland, and that they will persevere in them. The calamity 
is so great that it is to God alone we should look for relief I trust 
that his mercy will be moved by the powerful intercession of the help 
of Christians and the consoler of the afflicted — the most holy Virgin — 
to whom our poor were always devotedly attached. If she do not ob- 
tain temporal relief, she will certainly secure for the poor that which 



LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINX. 101 

is infinitely more important, the grace of dying a happy death. How 
many of them will pass from the miseries oT this vale of tears to eter- 
nal happiness, if they put themselves under her protection I 
I have the honor to remain, 

Your lordship's humble servant, 

Paul Cullen. 

The continued negligence of subordinates, indifference 
of superiors, and insensibility of the government to the 
wholesale destruction of Irish life, at last inspired Dr. 
Maginn with that deep-seated abhorrence of English 
misrule, which he carried with him to the grave. In a 
lettor of this year to Mr. Poulett Scrope, M. P., he 
franldy proclaims his indignation against the govern- 
ment* ^'For myselfi" he says, " as a Christian Bishop, 
living as I am, amidst scenes that must rend the heart 
of any having the least feeling of humanity, though 
attacli.ed to our Queen as much from affection as from 
the duty of allegiance, I don't hesitate to say to you 
that there is no means under heaven that I would not 
cheerfully resort to to redeem my people from their 
present misery ; and sooner than allow it to continue, 
like the Archbishop of Milan, I would grasp the cross 
and the green flag of Ireland and rescue my country, or 
perish with its people." 

His noble ano-er was no less aroused ao-ainst the 
cruel, prodigal aristocracy of confiscation. Some of 
their number having addressed him a circular letter, 
asking his co-operation in a system of wholesale cmigra- 



102 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN". 

tion to British ]Sro]:tli America, he thus passionately 
replied to them : 

*' Employ tlie Irish Catholic peasant anywhere, say you, but not in 
Ireland. Join us in removing the carrion people from before our eyes 
beyond the seas, or anywhere, that w^e may forget the misery w^e cre- 
ated, and banish the appprehension of retributive justice which God 
always reserves for the tyrants and opjpressors of the people, through 
the instrumentality of the oppressed. The murderers would w^ish to 
hide their victims, lest their mangled frames should rise in judgment 
against them. It will not, however, gentlemen, do. The bulk of the 
Irish Catholic people will stick to their native soil, were it for nothing 
else but to haunt you in your dreams of pleasure. Since you would 
not let the peasants live as Christians, you will be forced to look on 
their spectres — they will stick to you like the * man of the sea on Siu- 
btid's back 5' and since you would not raise them up, they will have 
the gratification of bringing you down to their own level. You may 
shudder at the thought of being brought into association with the filth 
and rags of these skeletons of your own making, as Satan shrunk back 
when he saw the hideous forms of Sin and Death which he himself had 
created.'^ 

In that miserable time, not only the bodies but the 
sonls of the people, were in imminent danger. The 
Pharisees, ^' who compass sea and land to make one 
proselyte," could not resist the opportunity of tempting 
the famished poor to swap their immortal souls for sec- 
tarian soup. In Derry as in Dingle, in Innishowen as 
in Achill, the Apostle of Famine was abroad, present- 
ing his bread and butter done up in Bible leaves; offer- 
ing, with the same hand, potatoes and publications. 
How much printed piety w^ent with a peck of potatoes, to 
what extent a stone of Indian meal ought to be leavened 
with godly exhortation, these apostles were thoroughly 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINJST. 103 

instructed. They carried with them a theological tariff, 
a sectarian sliding scale, by which their charities (for- 
give the profanation !) were measured out and regulated. 
Against such wolves in sheep's clothing, Dr. Maginn 
was constantly on the alert. In the Poor Houses, in 
the famished districts, in the back lanes of towns, he 
set w^atchers and traps for them. Finally, he founded 
throughout his Diocese ^'The Society for the Con- 
servation OF the Faith," in humble imitation of the 
illustrious and enc}' clical ^' Association for the Propaga- 
tion of the Faith." This Society, composed of cate- 
chists, visitors, and subscribers, exercised a most salu- 
tary influence in those seasons of fearful temptation, and 
continued to flourish during the life-time of its founder. 
Whether it still exists, we are not informed. 



CHAPTEE V. 

DR. MAGI!<n's views OF CHURCH POLITY IN IRELAND — THE CHARI- 
TABLE BEQUESTS ACT — THE QUEEN's COLLEGES — DIFFERENCES OF 
OPINION AMONG THE HIERARCHY ON THE COLLEGES ACT AS 
AMENDED — ACCESSION OF THE WHIGS TO POWER — THE NEW 
POPE — EPISCOPAL MEETINGS IN 1846 — THE APPEAL TO ROME — 
OTHER EPISCOPAL MOVEMENTS — PROPOSED NATIONAL ADDRESS TO 
POPE PIUS IX. 

Dr. Magixn's system of cliurcli polity was, in some 
of its combinations, wholly his own. With Dr. Crolly 
and Dr. Murray, he favored and fostered the national 
schools ; but he separated from them on the Charitable 
Bequests Act, and the subsequent scheme of academic 
education. A Derry editor, writing after his death, has 
said : ^' It has been to us an enigma that he wdio so 
largely patronized national schools within his parish 
and elsewhere, should have joined in the opposition to 
the Queen's Colleges, wdiich are founded on precisely 
the same principles as those schools. If there be differ- 
ences, in point of principle, between the two sets of in- 
stitutions, by which the interests of particular creeds 
are to be effected, we confess that we cannot discover 
them." 

The essential difference between the two institutions — 



LIFE OF RIGHT EEV. EDWARD MAGIN:N'. 105 

a primary parocliial scliool and a college controlled by 
tlie State — seems to us clear enough. In the former, ru- 
dimental knowledge only was taught ; in the latter, 
history, philosophy, geology, all studies which include 
views or questions of revelation, were to form the 
course. In the schools, the pastor was entitled to be a 
visitor, and if he chose, a patron ; while the colleges 
were to be governed exclusively by their own superiors, 
appointed directly by the Crown, and subject only to 
the visitations of a royal eommission. The Derry jour- 
nalist continues his criticism in these words : 

" "We have sat down, not to compose an indiscriminate eulogy upon 
an eminent individual, but to express our candid sentiments with re- 
gard to him, as the most fitting tribute due to his worth. We would 
say, then, that it has occurred to us that, of late years, the scenes oi 
misery which he had to witness, operating on his extreme sensibility, 
united to an erroneous view of the ability of government to relieve 
the whole wants of a famishing land, rendered him morbidly suspicious 
of government and its acts, and disposed him to concur with Dr. 
MacHale in his general views of ecclesiastical polity. One prominent 
trait in the Right Rev. Dr. 's: character was a most intense feeling of 
nationality — a feeling which is the basis of patriotism, one of not the 
least bright and useful of human virtues ; but it has been remarked by 
several persons, besides ourselves, that his nationality, associating it- 
self too constantly with ancient griefs, inclined him to be harsh, at 
times, in judging whatever was English, and we can imagine that it 
veiled from his mind's eye what appears to us the undesirableness and 
the impracticability of a certain popular measure. There was no wit- 
ness examined here by the Devon Commission, whose evidence gave 
more satisfaction than Dr. Maginn's ; and we have reason to think 
that his belief then was that by imperial legislation the country might 
be brought to a satisfactory condition. Unfortunately, there is a har- 
diness in that legislation which does not suit Celtic impatience. By 
some of his friends it was lamented that, in politics, he assumed the 
5* 



106 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD ]VIAGINN. 

attitude wliich latterly he did, but we presume tliat it had the appro- 
bation of many more. No one, however, could suspect the perfect sin- 
cerity and disinterestedness of the course which he took. It is the 
privilege of every man to impugn the soundness of opinions from 
which he dissents ; but no man of a well-ordered mind would deny 
honor to another on account of the depth and strength of his convic- 
tions.'^ 

It is certain, from liis correspondence, that he had 
decided against the Bequests Act and the new colleges, as 
he did in most other matters of conduct, on independent 
grounds: It nowhere appears that he had any personal 
intercourse with the Archbishop of Tuam before his 
consecration; the opposite, indeed, seems implied in his 
letters of that time. With the- Bishop of Meath, Dr. 
Cantwell, one of the best and wisest of his high order; 
he was in frequent communication, from the time he 
was nominated for the administratorship. Through him, 
and through his old Monaghan classmate, Dr. McISTally of 
Clogher, he was kept informed of the views of the Pre- 
lates who acted with Dr, McHale, but he did not catch 
up his opinions from his correspondents. While hum- 
ble as a monk and open to advice as any child, the 
fruitfulness and vigor of his own mind, naturally led 
him to take decided steps in advance, even of his intimate 
associates. We shall see additional evidences of this 
before we close the narrative. 

In opposition to ^^ the Bequests Act" of 1844, we find 
in Dr. Maginn's handwriting the resolutions adopted by 
the Bishop and Clergy of Derry. 



LIFE OF EIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGIXN. 107 

CHARITABLE EEQUESTS ACT. 

At a meeting of the Catholic Bisliop and Clergy of the diocese of 
Derry, held in St. Columb's on Wednesday, January 22, 1845, to tak 
into consideration the Charitable Bequests Act and the Concordat, said 
to be in contemplation between the courts of Rome and England, the 
following resolutions were unanimously adopted : 

1. Resolved, That at this eventful crisis, when the civil and religious 
liberties of the Irish Roman Catholics are being attacked by all the 
crjift and cunning of British diplomacy, it is imperative on all, clergy 
and people, to express their decided hostility to such baneful and in- 
sidious policy, and publicly avow their determination to resist, by 
every legal and constitutional means, any attempt made or to be made, 
no matter from what quarter it proceeds, to invade their ecclesiastical 
immunities or curtail those natural rights which they justly deem im- 
prescriptible and inalienable. 

2. Resolved, That having duly considered the Charitable Bequests 
Act in all its bearings, in the benefits it pretends to confer and the 
evih it purposes to inflict, and maturely and impartially weighed the 
Jirgnmonts put forth for and against that measure by its ablest defend- 
ers and opponents, we have at length come to the conclubion, that it 
does not contain a single clause conferring an unmixed good, whilst it 
clearly purports to inflict distinct and positive evils. Its benefits are 
delusi've^ — its disadvantages real. The commission, from the manner of 
its appointment, cannot be trustworthy, depending for its constitution 
on the honesty of the minister of the day ; its most conspicuous element 
is the old leaven of ascendancy ; the majority, even at the present 
moment, includes the ill-omened names of the sworn libellers of our 
faith and most inveterate enemies of our freedom. Under such a tu- 
telage, where the least even of our civil liberties would be insecure, 
Catholic charities could not be safe. The \evy nature of its duties 
supposes a violation of Episcopal rights. The most revered and sanc- 
tified of Catholic institutions arc directly attacked bj^ tliis Act, and 
their extinction insured. Justice and charity, so necessary to the dying 
penitent, it arrests and binds in its legal fetters. It insults and calum- 
niates the Ii'ish priesthood, even in the awful ministration of thoir 
holy rites at the bedside of the expiring Christian. This Act, in a 
word, we denounce as an old penal law, dressed up in a new garb — a 
rusty weapon drawn from the timeworn armory of the Star Cliambor, 
polislied, edged and fashioned anew, in the ministerial smithy, to suit 



108 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDYfARD MAGINN. 

the taste and temper of the enlightened times we live in, and to insidi- 
ously stab religion in its most vital parts — its charities. 

3. Resolved, That the petition now read — a petition for the repeal 
of said iniquitous Act — be forthwith signed by the Catholic Bishop 
and clergy of the diocese of Derry, and forwarded to Daniel O'Connell, 
Esq,, M. P., for presentation in the House of Commons, and to Lord 
Camoys for presentation in the House of Lords. 

4. Resolved, That we recognize with feelings of heartfelt gratitude, 
the finger of God, in the preservation of the life of Daniel O'Connell, 
to detect and expose the mischievous schemes of the enemies of our 
country and creeti ; and that we hereby pledge ourselves, in the tem- 
ple and before the altar of our Redeemer, to stand by him, through 
good report and evil report, in the face of foreign and domestic foes, 
and to assist him with all the zeal, temper and Spirit which the Gospel 
inspires in the cause of suffering humanity, in every legal and consti- 
tutional effort he may make to secure our holy religion against the 
wiles of its enemies, or to restore the rights and redress the wrongs 
of the ever faithful but deeply injured people of Ireland. 

5. Resolved, That we have heard with alarm that a concordat be- 
tween the courts of Rome and England was in contemplation. Con- 
vinced of the evil consequences which resulted from similar negocia- 
tions to the liberties of the Catholic church in other countries, we can- 
not view, without strong feelings of apprehension, any proceeding 
having a tendency to affect our ecclesiastical liberties, and that we 
hereby enter our solemn protest against any concordat, unless it be 
solely for commercial or international purposes, which may directly 
or indirectl};^ infringe on the usages, customs or immunities of the 
Catholic Church in Ireland, and in the face of heaven declare, that we 
will consider it a conscientious duty to resist, by all justifiable means, 
any such aggressions on our holy religion. 

6. Resolved, That however uncongenial it may be to our feelings as 
His ministers, who said, "My kingdom is not of this world," to be in 
any manner mixed up in matters purely temporal, such is the anom- 
alous condition of Ireland, with nearly three millions of her people the 
victims of a misrule — conceived in bigotry and still fostered by the 
most bitter sectarian prejudices, in a state of utter destitution and mis- 
ery shocking to humanity, and making the lot of the negro slave envi- 
able — it would be inconsistent with our duties, bound as we are to 
them by every tie, divine and human, not to use those weapons which 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIJSTN. 109 

charity ordains and religion approves to ameliorate their condition 
and carry out the views of God towards them, in making them free and 
happy in the land he gave them. With these convictions, disposed to 
faithfully discharge the threefold duty imposed on us, we will, as sub- 
jects, bear strict allegiance to our gracious sovereign in civil matters ; 
as Catholic Christians, undeviating attachment and submission in faith 
and morals to the center of Catholic unity — His Holiness the Pope ; 
as Irishmen, undying devotion to the rights and interests of the Irish 
people, who never changed their faith from their God or from their 
priesthood ; in the words of an immortal Irish prelate, " Like the Le- 
vites of old after returning from their long captivity, we will employ 
one hand to defend them against the aggressions of their implacable 
enemies, and with the other we will cleanse our holy places, rebuild 
our sanctuaries, make new vessels for the sacrifice, and worship with 
them at our half-raised altars," ready to retire altogether within the 
chancel and the sanctuary, when our country is a nation and our coun- 
trymen prosperous and free. If condemned for our patriotism we will 
console ourselves with the reflection that we contend in the same 
ranks with the amiable Las Casas and the immortal Lankton, and that 
He was not insensible to this feeling, who said, ^^ Miser ior superttcr 
bum,*^ and who did not refuse a tear to His beloved Jerusalem, when 
he saw in the distance her Sion in ruins, hunger howling within her 
walls, her children a prey to the Gentile, her liberties extinct and her 
ancient glories departed. 

That measure was, however, become the law of the 
land, and until this day such it remains. One or two 
remarkable cases have been decided under its provisions ; 
that no more have been litigated is the most convincing 
proof that the clergy of Ireland have not generally en- 
couraged death-bed bequests. To deny by statute to 
the dying Christian such a consoling privilege — to sub- 
ject religious bequests of any kind to the administration 
of a crown commission seems cruel, unchristian and des- 
potic. The opposition of Th;' [risli Church and people 



110 LIFE OF BIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINIS". 

was to the principle of the measure ; that it has not been 
found in operation as oppressive as its capacity of inter- 
pretation would permit, is no merit in its authors. 

The contest with government on the Queen's Colleges 
was more protracted and eventful. The establishment 
of such colleges at Cork, at Galway, and at Belfast — to 
possess collectively the dignity and privileges of a Uni- 
versity; was a favorite project of Sir Eobert Peel's last 
administration. The proposition was moved early in 
1 845, and received the sanction of Parliament, with what 
were called Sir James Graham's amendments, the same 
session. 

The history of this measure and the opposition to it is 
highly instructive. On its first appearance the Primate 
summoned a special meeting of the Irish Bishops, at a 
week's notice, in Dublin. It was there unanimously 
condemned in the lano-uag^e of the Primate's circular ^* as 
dangerous to faith and morals," and a memorial to the 
Lord Lieutenant (Heytesburj^), containing their objec- 
tions and demands agreed upon. As showing the spirit 
and resolution of the Bishops^ this document is w^orth 
preserving. 

THE MEMORIAL OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS 
OF IRELAND. 

" Humbly showeth — That Memorialists are disposed to co-operate 
oil fair and reasonable terms with Her Majesty's Government and the 
Legislature, in establishing a system for the further extension of Aca- 
demical education in Ireland. 

'^ That the circumstances of the present population of Ireland afford 



LIFE OF KIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGIN^^ 111 

plain evidence that a large majority of the students belonging to the 
middle classes will be Roman Catholics, and memorialists, as their 
spiritual pastors, consider it their indispensable duty to secure to the 
utmost of their power, the most effectual means of protecting the 
faith and morals of the students in the new colleges, which are to be 
erected for their better education. 

" That a fair proportion of the professors, and other office-bearers in 
the new colleges, should be members of the Roman Catholic Church, 
whose moral conduct shall have been properly certified by testimonials 
of character, signed by their respective prelates. And that all the 
office-bearers in those colleges should be appointed by a board of trus- 
tees, of which the Roman Catholic prelates of the province in w^hich 
any of those colleges shall be erected, shall be members. 

^^ That the Roman Catholic pupils could not attend the lectures on 
history, logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy,- geology or anatomy, 
without exposing their faith or morals to imminent danger, unless a 
Roman Catholic professor will be appointed for each of those chairs. 

*• That if any president, vice-president, professor or office-bearer in 
any of the new colleges shall be convicted, before the Board of Trus- 
tees, of attempting to undermine the faith, or injure the morals of any 
student in those institutions, he shall be immediately removed from his 
office by the same board. 

" That as it is not contemplated that the students shall be provided 
with lodging in the new colleges, there shall be a Roman Catholic 
chaplain to superintend the moral and religious instruction of the Ro- 
man Catholic students belonging to each of those colleges ; that the 
appointment of each chaplain, with a suitable salary, shall be made 
on the recommendation of the Roman Catholic bishop of the diocese 
in which the college is situate, and that the same prelate shall have 
full power and authority to remove such Roman Catholic chaplain 
from his situation. ^' Signed on behalf of the meeting, 

" t D. Murray, Chairman. 

" Dublin, May 23, 1845." 

At the regular meeting of the Bishops in June, at 
Maynooth, they reiterated their determined opposition, 
and again in September, the Board of Bishops, Trustees 
of the College, repeated it a third time, " lest our be- 



112 LIFE OF RIGHT REY. EDWARD MAGINN. 

loved flocks should be apprehensive of any change being 
wrought in our minds." Such a change was reported to 
have been wrought in the mind of Dr. CroUy and those 
who usually coincided in his judgment. In August, at 
a popular meeting in Armagh to secure the Provincial 
College for that neighborhood, he was publicly reported 
to have declared the amended act to be unobjectionable 
to Catholics. This drew out an emphatic statement to 
the contrary effect from the zealous Bishop of Meath, 
addressed to Mr. O'Connell. At the annual November 
meeting of the Bishops, the literal recondemnation be- 
came a test question between two sections of that illus- 
trious body ; the Archbishops of Tuam and Cashel, with 
eighteen Bishops, voting for the old exact terms, 
*' dangerous to faith and morals," and the Archbishops 
of Armagh and Dublin, with Drs. Eyan, McGrettigan, 
Browne (of Kilmore,) and Denvir, voting simply that 
^Hhe Bill in its amended form be submitted to the Holy 
See for its consideration and decision." The prelates 
who were in the majority also resolved " to lay before 
the Holy Father our former resolutions, and their appli- 
cation to the act in its present form, together with the 
grounds on which those resolutions were founded, in 
order that we may all receive the decision of his Holiness, 
and recognize the voice of Peter in the person of his 
successor." To this resolution, and that taken at May- 
nooth two months before. Dr. Maginn, then only Bishop- 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 113 

elect, gave in his formal adhesion as soon as conse- 
crated. 

The laity were not more unanimous at first than the 
Bishops. By its advocates it was represented to be the 
complement of the National School system. Assuming 
the bane of the soil to be sectarianism, they proposed as 
a remedy " mixed education." They pointed out, justly 
enough, the inadequacy of Trinity College, to supply 
the wants of the middle and professsonal classes. They 
painted in the glowing colors of Irish fancy the healing, 
strengthening and ennobling effects of such institutions 
on the provincial mind. They treated with impatience 
or incredulity the refined reasoning of the opposition, 
whose motives as usual were exposed to the unfairest 
interpretations of the less scrupulous among the advo- 
cates. It was a strange combination of views and in- 
terests — Dr. Murray and the party of conciliation, with 
Mr. Davis and the party of revolution, the Catholic aris- 
tocracy of the Blake and Bellew order, with the Unita- 
rian rationalists of the Eemonstrant Synod. Against 
these unusual allies, O'Connell and his friends maintain- 
ed that the higher education could not safely be divorced 
from religion ; that the Catholics of Ireland could never 
consent to send their sons to ^^ godless colleges;" that 
to put *' all religions" on an equality, as the phrase 
went, was to do infinite injustice to the one true faith, 
and to offer a premium, not on liberality but on laxity, 



114 LIFE OF EIGHT EEV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

to secure a growth not of good will and brotherly love 
among different denominations, but of chilling skeptical 
indifference to all religion. They pointed to the fruits 
of a similar sj^stem in Germany, and in France at that 
moment under Louis Phillippe ; in the literature of ma- 
terialism and infidelity which had covered France, Swit- 
zerland and Prussia, with seeds of lawlessness and un- 
belief; which spoke by the mouths of Michelet, of Eugene 
Sue, of Louis Blanc, and of Strauss, uttering the wildest 
chimeras, the most poisonous sophistries, and the most 
horrid blasphemies. They declared the old " hedge 
schools," with all their shortcomings, to be infinitely pre- 
ferable to the introduction of so dangerous a system, 
however modified it might be, in details. Of this mind 
was Dr. Maginn, and we have evidence enough to claim 
for him the honor of being one of the most effective op- 
ponents of the new academical system. 

A draft of the Maynooth declaration had been sent to 
each Bishop by its immediate authors, with the exception 
of the old Bishop of Derry, who was laboring under 
mental afi&iction. In a letter to the Eev. Dr. Maginn, 
dated September 22, the Bishop of Meath explains that 
in this the promoters were influenced by a feeling of 
delicacy, arising from the painful and peculiar circum- 
stances of Derry ; adding immediately the expression of 
their thorough conviction, '^ That the Irish Church will 
be sustained in the present eventfgiLcrisis by the active 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGIiS^N. 115 

co-operation of a clergy, who have been always prominent 
in defending her rights and promoting her interests." 
The clergy of the Diocese of Derry accordingly met to 
express their ^'entire and cordial concurrence in the 
decision and declaration of the synod, held in Dublin on 
the 18th of last November." 

Their noble j)T07iunciamenfo of this year, suggested 
probably by this letter, is Dr. Maginn's composition, with 
the exception of the paragraph sixthly, which was insert- 
ed by Archdeacon McCarron. As agreed on it runs thus : 

'• We object to tlie proposed system : 

" Firstly. Because it affords no sufficient guarantee against the cor- 
ruption of faith and morals, nor any adequate warrant for their invio- 
lability. 

" Secondly. Yie object to it, because it makes no suitable provision 
for religious instruction, inasmuch as any national system of education 
for Ireland, to be perfect, should not only not interfere with the reli- 
gious opinions of any, but should secure the religions instruction 
of all. 

^- Thirdly. We object to it because it violates the canons of the Ca- 
tholic Church, taking the entire control over the education of the 
Catholic youth from their divinely-appointed guardians and instruc- 
tors — the Catholic prelates — and transferring it to purely secular and 
ministerial officials. 

" Fourthly. We object to it because it violates the law of nature, 
by giving to the president of each of these academies the legal privi- 
lege of allocating the students where he pleases, against the natural 
and inalienable rights of their parents, whose duty it is to provide 
them with proper lodgings, and place them under the vigilant super- 
intendence of persons identified with them in religious feeling and 
principle. 

^' Fifthly. We object to it, because whilst Trinity College, enriched 
by the foul spoliation of our plundered abbeys and Catholic forefa- 
thers, is to remain under the sole superintendence of. the Protcsti^^t 



116 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

Episcopalian Church in Ireland, and whilst the Ulster College is to be 
connected with the Belfast Academical Institution, over which Presby- 
terian synods have the preponderating, if not exclusive control, the 
Parliament of England injures and insults the Catholic body, com- 
prising the overwhelming majority of the Irish nation, by refusing to 
place the colleges to be erected for the use of the Catholic community 
under the protection of the Catholic hierarchy, in utter disregard of 
the almost unanimously expressed feelings and wishes of the Catholic 
clergy and Catholic people of Ireland. 

^' Lastly. We object to it, because experience has taught us that the 
continental models on which it was designed and formed are the nur- 
series of infidelity, in which religion is a by-word, Christianity an ab- 
surdity, the science of the material preferred to the science of the 
spiritual world, and the flickerings of a demented reason to the re- 
vealed knowledge of God and his divine dispensation, 

^'A good educational system we would hail as the greatest boon from 
Heaven to our country — such a system as would afford secular know- 
ledge its full development, combined with sound instruction in religious 
principles — a system that would form the Christian and the scholar, 
but a system still that would give the knowledge of God and man the 
first place, and to purely human sciences that subordinate station 
which even the very pagans, guided by the light of reason, justly as- 
signed to them. 

•^ Believing that a simple protest against the contemplated system 
of academic instruction would be as foolish as it would be unprofitable, 
if the Catholic clergy and people rested there, and did not evince their 
readiness to provide for the Catholic youth such a system as conscience 
sanctions and the times require, we, the Catholic clergy of the diocese 
of Derry, pledge ourselves to co-operate with the Irish priesthood and 
people, to the utmost limit of our humble means, towards the estab- 
lishment of provincial academies, where the faith and morals of the 
rising generation shall be secured against the inroads of infidelity, 
where religious instruction shall be zealously and efficiently promoted, 
and human knowledge be afforded its widest range ; where the name 
of Ireland shall receive all due respect and honor ; where, in a word, 
the records of her ancient fame, her wrongs, her trials, her persecu- 
tions and patience, shall be fearlessly evolved, read and taught ; and 
where, next to the love of God and his revealed truth, the love of 
country shall be deeply and indelibly engraven on the heart and mind 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 117 

of the Irish student. [Here follow the signatures of twenty-nine Irish 
priests and forty-nine curates — the whole clergy of the diocese except 
eight.] 

The ministry of Lord John Eussell which succeeded 
Sir Eobert Peel's in June, 1846, adopted with zeal and 
clung with tenacity to his Academical scheme. The 
same month an event of the utmost importance to the 
Catholic world — the death of a Pope — took place. Greg- 
ory XVI., raised to the Pontificate in February, 1831, 
was in his 66th year, and had nearly completed the 16th 
year of his reign. During his time, the Church of Ire- 
land had risen from civil subjection to the Protestant 
state, to possess power in the empire, and reputation 
throughout Europe. He was familiar with its long 
struggles to reach that position, without sacrifice of prin- 
ciples, and he cherished an affection for the Island of 
Saints, enlightened and increased by the remembrance of 
what he had heard and known during his cardinalate. 
Pope Gregory expired on the 1st of June, and Cardinal 
Mastai-Feretti was elected his successor on the 16th, and 
enthroned on the 21st. On that day began a Pontificate 
which will be memorable throughout all climes and 
times, not only for great events, but for .the greatest of 
modern events the definition of the dogma of the Im- 
maculate Conception. At its outset the world feigned to 
lie down and lick the feet of the Pontiff*, but all the while 
it was busy conspiring to undermine his throne and to 



118 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

overturn his autlioritj^ Hollow professions of attach- 
ment were poured forth by worldlings and progression- 
ists, mistaking the zeal of a new and vigorous ruler for 
an homage paid to their theories. But soon came a 
change ; a storm sprung up darkening the fair face of 
Italy, and saddening all hearts throughout Christendom ; 
a storm in which Ireland saw her hereditary oppressor 
playing Prospero's part, not concealing his desigir of en- 
gulphing in the general wreck, the liberties and the 
prospects of the Irish Church. 

The first Episcopal Synod, held in Ireland under the 
pontificate of Pious IX., and the first in which Dr. Ma- 
ginn sat, assembled in the Presbyterj', Marlborough-street, 
Dublin, on the 10th of November, '46, and adjourned on 
the 14th. It was the most important meeting in the 
variety and importance of the business transacted, which 
had been held for many years. All the Bishops were 
present but two. The decision of the Holy See on the 
Queen's Colleges had not then been received, so that no 
new step was taken in that matter. A petition to Par- 
liament was unanimously agreed to, " for such changes in 
the Bequests Act as would render that statute — now so 
obnoxious — acceptable to the Prelates, Clergy and People 
of Ireland ;" the repeal of the Mortmain clause was es- 
pecially asked for. Such alterations in the Marriage 
Act of 1844, as would relieve the Catholic Clergy from 
penalties incurred by marrying a Protestant and Catho- 



LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWABD MAGINN". 119 

lie, were the subject of another petition. A third was 
on behalf of the children of Oatliolio soldiers, and the 
soldiers themselves, asking that they might not be com- 
pelled, under the army orders of 1814, to attend Protest- 
ant schools or Protestant worship, or read the Protestant 
version of the Scriptures ; that the Douay Bible should be 
given them instead, and liberty to attend at the Holy 
Sacrifice of the Mass, on Sundays and holidays of obliga- 
tion. The Vicars Apostolic of England and Scotland sub- 
sequently signed this memorial, but though its prayer has 
since been frequently renewed, it has not yet been granted. 
An address to Pius IX., to be signed by all the clergy 
of Ireland, was also ordered, and committed to the hands 
of a committee in Dublin, but we find Dr. Maginn com- 
plaining in a letter to Dr. MacHale, the following Sep- 
tember, that these parties had " altogether neglected" it, 
thereby causing the proposers, ^' to cut but a poor figure 
at Eomie." He was naturally impatient at this dis- 
heartenino; delav. 

"It would have been ninch better had your Grace, wlio could have 
done these matters so well, not allowed a task of snch high moment to 
pass into other hands, either incapable or unwilling to act, when j'our 
own ever ready resources could be largely drawn upon to meet this or 
any other emergency. I have had letters lately from Rome, stating 
that there is much surprise theie at our silence, or rather at the silence 
of the Irish nation, including both clergy and people. The general 
cxpressio!a of our gratitude for favors received at His Holiness' hands, 
the strong attestation of our sympathy in his present sufferings, the 
testimony of our marked indignation against tlie sacrilegious airgrossors 
of his rights, are the very least gifts we could olfer him, bosct as he is 



120 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

by enemies, foreign and domestic It would be well (I say it witb alt 
due deference) were your grace, without further waiting for the Dublin 
concoction, to come out with a form of address for Catholic Ireland, 
breathing your wonted fire and eloquence — with your very soul in 
every word, to be subscribed to by us all and sent off in all haste, to 
console him in his difficulties and to encourage him to present a bold 
front to the encroachments of the Austrian infidel. I think you may 
offer him, in the names of the Irish Catholic clergy and people, their 
hearts, their hands, their all. If to die for our country be a beautiful 
duty, it cannot be less delightful, were it necessary, to risk life and all 
to preserve the chair of Peter intact, and Rome, endeared to as by a 
thousand recollections, the anchorage of Christian hope, the sacred 
centre of Christian unity — inviolate. Whatever is to be done should be 
done speedily, and by none other will it be done if your grace omit to 
do it. We live in truly awful times, and charity must indeed be cold 
upon the earth when Catholic Christendom can stand with folded arms 
and look on tamely and unresistingly whilst the Redeemer of the world 
is outraged in the person of his Vicar, and attempts are being made by 
a hoary diplomatic Judas to strip the chair of the fisherman, of rights 
hallowed by centuries and consecrated by the dearest interests of piety 
and religion. The day was when a St. Bernard or aTeter the Hermit 
would, with words of fire, have convulsed Europe and gathered around 
the guilty heads of the ruthless invaders the accumulated vengeance 
of every follower of the cross, from the Danube to the Shannon." 

"We shall see in the next chapter, how thorough he 
felt that veneration and love for Eome, which he thus 
endeavored to demonstrate on a national scale, and which 
he did so much during his short episcopate, to feed and 
foster in the hearts of his people. 



CHAPTER VI 

PONTIFICATE OF PIUS IX. — ENGLISH INTRIGUES IN ITALY — LORD 
MINTO'S MISSION — LORD SHREWSBURY'S VISIT TO ROME — LORD 
clarendon's PROPOSITION TO ARCHBISHOP MURRAY— THE IRISH 
BISHOPS OPPOSED TO THE GOVERNMENT SCHEME OF ACADEMICAL 
EDUCATION, SEND TWO OF THEIR NUMBER TO ROME — THE AGENTS 
AND INFLUENCES EMPLOYED AGAINST THEM— SUCCESS OF THE 
MISSION OF DRS. MACHALE AND o'hIGGINS — DR. MAGINN*S PART IN 
IT— INSURRECTION IN ROME — THE POPS IN EXILE— ELOQUENT PAS- 
TORAL OF DR. MAGINN ON THAT EVENT — ITS RECEPTION AT ROME, 
AND BY THE HOLY FATHER. 

We have now to take a glance at the diplomacy of 
the Irish Church, as opposed to the Protestant state, and 
the part our subject was called upon to bear in it. 

The accession of Pius IX. to the Pontificate and the 
first political acts of his reign were received with loud 
acclamations by the British press and people. One of 
his first acts was an amnesty to political offenders, grant- 
ed on the sole condition that they should not *^ abuse 
this act of sovereign clemency" by undertaking there- 
after anything against the State. This amnesty seems 
to have been accepted by the majority if not all of those 



122 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINIST. 

who availed themselves of it in anything but good faith. 
They made their very professions of attachment to the 
Holy Father occasions for marshalling and drilling their 
demagogic forces. They began by mingling cries of 
reform with their ^'vivas/^ and proceeded to threaten 
the ministers, the cardinals, and especially the Jesuits. 
Secret societies, those nurseries of every anti-social vice, 
undermined the Eternal City, and had their spies and 
tools about the very person of the Pontiff. Brunetti, 
Sterbini, and other chiefs of these sons of darkness, were 
the real rulers of Eome, and merely tolerated Pius IX., 
until their conspiracy was complete. The rising of Sicily 
against Neapolitan oppression, the insurrections of the 
Lombard cities against their Austrian garrisons, the pro- 
pagandism of Gioberti and Mazzini — causes good, bad, 
and diabolical — were all at work to throw the peninsula 
into ferment and confusion. 

This state of affairs presented to Lord John Eussell 
and Lord Palmerston too tempting a field for intrigue 
to be left unoccupied. The panegyrics of their press and 
their parliamentary orators on the Pope as a reformer, 
were preliminary to their experiments on the Pope as Head 
of the Church. The embassy at Florence was the cover 
for the first approaches, and as the dangers of the Papal 
government began to excite the hopes and fears of friends 
and enemies. Lord Minto, father-in-law to the British 
Prime Minister, was sent on a special secret mission, 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEV. EDWARD MAGINN. 123 

nominally to all the Italian States, but principally to 
Eome. The alarm as to this mission was communicated 
to the Irish Hierarchy by an English Prelate — Dr. 
Briggs, the venerable Bishop of Be-verly. Of all the 
hierarchy of the imperial island, he was the most con- 
stant in his friendship for the sister nation. Towards 
the close of the year '47, the visits of Lord Minto to 
Eome became known, and on the 16th of December, 
Lord Lansdowne, in reply to a question in the House 
of Lords, indicated very significantly the objects of that 
mission. "My Lords," he said, "I believe there is no 
court in Europe in which it would be more useful for 
the British Government to explain the nature of our 
transactions, or to induce that court to use its peculiar 
sources of influence in certain parts of Her Majesty'^ s domi- 
nions^ Immediately on the appearance of this declara- 
tion, Dr. Briggs addressed a circular letter to the Bishops 
of Ireland, proposing that they should join the Prelates 
of England and Scotland in a memorial to His Holiness, 
setting forth the true relations and intentions of the civil 
government to the Church, and preventing false impres- 
sions from being produced or ex parte suggestions adopted 
at Eome. At the same time the English Bishops appoint- 
ed the Eev. Dr. Grant (since Bishop of Southwark) their 
agent at Eome, while the Eev. Dr. Cullen, the present 
Archbishop of Dublin, discharged similar duties for the 
Irish Hierarchy. The joint memorial proposed by Dr. 



124 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINJST. 

Briggs, was duly signed and sent, and forwarded to the 
Pope hj Dr. Grant, '^ through the proper ecclesiastical 
channel." 

The Academical Education Act, as at first proposed, 
had been condemned at Eome in 1847, and the Hierarchy 
recommended to undertake, in imitation of Belgium, a 
Catholic university. The Prelates who opposed it through- 
out, rested content with their victory, many sinking into 
apathy towards all public affairs. The fearful famine of 
that year occupied almost exclusively the attention of 
the Episcopal Synod, which assembled in October. The 
Irish government; at the head of which was now placed 
the astute Lord Clarendon, seemed to suffer the public 
discussion to drop, but the college buildings at Belfast, at 
Cork and at Gal way, gradually went up. It was appa- 
rent that, though baffled, the ministers did not consider 
themselves beaten, and looked forward to a renewal of 
their struggle with the Bishops. Lord Minto's mission 
naturally awakened anew the anxieties of the latter, es- 
pecially when it w^as found that Lord Shrewsbury, a 
supposed favorer of the college scheme, and a person of 
the greatest influence at Eome, appeared simultaneously 
in the Eternal City. This conjunction of influences pro- 
duced one effect ; a letter from Cardinal Fransoni to the 
Irish Bishops recommending moderation and unity — thus 
apparently censuring their previous line of conduct. Dr. 
CroUy, Dr. Murray, and their friends chose to interpret 



LIFE OF EIGHT BEY. EDWABD XAaiNN. 125 

this '' admonitory document" into an approbation of 
their views, and their interpretation was ostentatiously 
paraded in the government organs, the World and Uven- 
ing Post 

A new combination of hopes and influences was now 
suddenly brought about by the French revolution of 
February, 1848. The sudden inflation of Young Ireland, 
and the threatening aspect of English and foreign affairs, 
obliged the viceregal administration to make fresh con- 
cessions and advances to the Hierarchy. On the 19th of 
March, 1848, Lord Clarendon addressed to the Arch- 
bishop of Dublin the following extraordinary letter, a 
copy of which found its way into the press, and created 
the liveliest sensation throughout the kingdom. 

COPY OF THE LETTER OF LORD CLARENDON. 

(Private.) 

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Duhlin : 

My dear Lord, — ^Your Grace had the goodness to promise me that 
you would convey to Rome, for the consideration of the Pope, 13ie 
Amended Statutes of the Queen's Colleges in Ireland, as the British 
Government has no official organ of communication with the Holy 
See. 

I was happy of having the opportunity to consult your Grace before 
any alteration was made, because, as a Catholic Prelate, you well 
knew what guarantees and provisions were requisite for ensuring tg- 
ligious instruction to the Catholic youths who might frequeat those 
colleges, and I was anxious that such securities should be given with 
the most entire good faith, and in a manner perfectly satisfoctory to 
the Irish Prelates, who, like yourself desired to sec the true interests 
of morality and the Catholic religion promoted by these new Institu- 
tious. 

I regret very much the delay that has taken place in the revision 



126 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD :m:AGIXX. 

of the statutes ; but I need hardly tell you that the attention of the 
Government was last year wholly devoted to alleviating the calamity 
with which it was the will of Providence that this country should be 
visited ; moreover, this delay was of no importance, as the colleges 
will not be ready for occupation before the end of the year 1849. 

The whole of the statutes are at your disposal now or at any future 
period, that youi' Grace or any other Bishop may wish to see them ; 
but as they are very voluminous, and relate entirely to the course of 
instruction and the duties of the different officers of the colleges, I 
propose at present only to trouble you with the religious portion of 
them. 

Accordingly I herewith send all that part of the statutes which 
affect, as to religious points, both professors and students, as well as 
an extract from the Report of the Board with reference to religious 
instruction. 

The list of visitors is not yet settled, but I can have no hesitation in 
saying that it will include the Catholic Ai'chbishop of the province, 
and Bishop of the diocese in which the college is situated, and that, 
moreover, in the council, professorships and other posts of each col- 
lege, the Catholic religion will always be fully and appropriately rep- 
resented ; for these colleges are instituted for the education of the 
middle classes, and the government would fail in its object of training 
np the youth of Ireland to be good men and loyal subjects, if their re- 
ligious instruction and moral conduct were not duly provided for and 
guarded by every precaution that the most anxious solicitude can de- 
vise. 

As I entertain a profound veneration for the character of the Pope, 
acd implicitly rejy upon his upright judgment, it is with pleasui-e that 
I now ask your Grace to submit these statutes to the consideration of 
his Holiness, believing, as I do, that they may be advantageously com- 
pared with those of any other similar institution in Europe, and that 
by exhibiting the care and the good faith with which they have been 
framed, they will furnish a simple but conclusive answer to those mis- 
representations which have been so industriously circulated, and which, 
if they had been founded in truth, would have justly excited the alarm 
and calkd forth the reprobation of His Holiness. 

I have the honor to be, with gTcat esteem, my dear lord, 
Your Grace's very faithful servant, 

Clakexdox. 

To His Grace Ai'chbishop Murray, of Dublin. 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 127 

Several weeks before the appearance of this letter of 
Lord Clarendon's, and perhaps as an improvement on 
Dr. Briggs' proposal, Dr. Maginn had circulated among 
his correspondents the suggestion of a deputation to 
Eome, and at a meeting of some of the Bishops and 
Clergy in Dublin, early in February, Dr. O'Higgins had 
been persuaded to act as one of the deputation. • At that 
time Dr. MacHale positively declined, but after the ap- 
pearance of Lord Clarendon's letter he consented. Both 
were anxious to have Dr. Maginn's company, but the 
poverty of his diocese, and the pressure of its long ac- 
cumulating cares prevented his acceptance. The two 
patriot Bishops started after Easter, and on the 12th of 
April Dr. O'Higgins writes in high spirits, from Mar- 
seilles, that they had arrived safely the previous night, 
were to leave next day for Civita Yecchia, and hoped to 
be in Eome by the following Sunday afternoon. He 
pays a high compliment to Mr. Lucas of the Tablet^ with 
whom they had dined in London, on the way, and who 
is pronounced by Dr. O'Higgins to be ^^real gold." The 
abettors of the government among the English and Irish 
clergy— and truth compels us to confess it — were not less 
energetic. Among them at that time, one reads with 
deep regret the illustrious name of Wiseman, whose 
personal treatment at their hands, a few years later, was 
but a new illustration of the old maxim, ^^put not your 
trust in princes." Acting with Dr. Wiseman, and ap- 



128 LIFE OF EIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 

parentlj under him was Dr. Nicholson, Archbishop of 
Corfu, the British capital of the Ionian Islands, whose 
annual income was derived from the British treasury 
The Irish Hierarchy beheld with special indignation flic 
intermeddling of this foreign dignitary in their domestic 
affairs, and loudly complained of his officiousness to the 
Eoman authorities. The Eev. Dr. Ennis, a highly re- 
spectable Parish Priest of the diocese of Dublin, reached 
Rome early in May, to represent the views and wishes 
of Dr. Murray and the minority of the Bishops. Thus there 
were present, knocking at the gates of the Propaganda, 
representatives of all classes of British and Irish Catho- 
lics, as well as of the civil government of the empire, 
each hanging with breathless suspense on the lips of the 
Sovereign Pontiff. The college question was the one then 
uppermost, but it was plainly one of a series ; had the civil 
power succeeded in that, farther encroachments on the 
independence of the Church would have inevitably fol- 
lowed ; hence, the wisdom of those who defended so des- 
perately that first fortress on the line of attack. It is an 
inspiriting and a glorious sight to see the Irish Bishops 
checkmate and defeat at Eome, to the edification of all 
Christendom, the wiliest plans of British diplomacy. In 
the natural order they were the sons of peasants ; with- 
out any other wealth than the free-will offerings of their 
flocks ; theologically educated indeed, but all untrained 
in those courtly arts by which even the good cause is 



LIFE OF BIGHT EEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 129 

often best served ; against them were the Eussells, the 
Temples, the Elliotts, men in "whose houses the lessons 
of diplomacy were taught from earliest youth ; men who 
could speak with all the authority of the greatest modern 
empire; men who had grown grey and historical in the 
management of public affairs. And the Judges of this 
appeal were worthy to decide any cause. The new Pope, 
the very impersonation of benignity, charity and justice ; 
the profound Lambruschini, the beneficent Gizzi, the 
venerable Fransoni, the sagacious Antonelli, were among 
his High Ofi&cers of State. Before these illustrious men 
and their colleagues, the case of the Irish Church against 
the British Government, of freedom of education against 
the intellectual despotism of state control, came in a form 
of appeal demanding decision, in the troubled and mo- 
mentous year of 1848. 

Eome is proverbially slow. The Church, says De Mais- 
tre somewhere, being for all time, is never in a hurry — - 
or some such expression. The various parties to the 
appeal were detained in Eome, or came and v/ent, from 
April till October. In this interval Dr. Maginn, Dr. 
McNally and Dr. Cantwell, seem to have had the man- 
agement of " the home department" of the opposition. 
Dr. Maginn especially was the ^' chief secretary" through- 
out this business. In the spring and early summer, while 
engaged in a visitation of his diocese, during which he 

confirmed about 6,000 souls, he found time for letter after 
6* 



130 LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 

letter, to the authorities and the Irish agents at Rome. 
In one of his Latin letters to Cardinal Fransoni, he gave 
with his usual energy, a character of Dr. Nicholson, which 
was supposed to have some effect in procuring the order 
for that dignitary to withdraw from Rome to his own 
diocese. Writing in May, to the Bishop of Clogher, Dr. 
Maginn expresses great pleasure at the result of that 
skirmish. '* I gave the Cardinal in my last letter," he 
says, ^^ an account of that gentleman, which may have 
done some service in the way of having him ordered 
home to mind his own business." The contest proceeded 
during six months with various fortunes. A pamphlet 
printed in the Eternal City, containing some extracts 
from extreme speeches or writings of the Patriot Bish- 
ops — especially the two who were in Rome — was indus- 
triously circulated. A sharp correspondence between 
Dr. MacHale and Lord Shrewsbury, and a formal com- 
plaint of Mr. J. R. Corballis, of the Bequests and Educa- 
tion Boards, were also presented to the prejudice of 
their cause. Against these Dr. Brigg's address and Dr. 
Maginn's powerful letters, were chiefly relied on. In 
May, Dr. O'Higgins wrote in sanguine spirits to the 
Bishop of Clogher ; in June the prospect was thought 
to be gloomy ; finally. Dr. O'Higgins wrote on the 14th 
of September to Dr. Maginn : " we have at length left 
our final expose in print, with the Pope and the Cardinals. 
The case will be discussed on the 25th of this month, in 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWAKD MAGINN. 131 

a full congregation, and the opinions of their eminences 
will be laid before the Pope on the following Sunday."^ 
Accordingly, on the expected daj^, the Pope issued his re- 
script to the Irish Prelates, renewing the condemnation 
of the Queen's colleges, exhorting them to erect a Catholic 
university^ as the Belgians had done at Louvaine, directing 
that the meetings of the Prelates should be held in due 
synodical form, and requiring accurate reports of the 
state of each diocese. On the 10th of November, the 
Primate communicated the substance of these documents 
to Bishop Maginn, who seized on the occasion with his 
usual quickness of perception. 

" I wrote him," he reports to Dr. Mcl^ally, " in reply to his favor, a 
Tather ingenious letter, in which I congratulated him and the body on 
the prospect of perfect union of mind and purpose among us for the 
future. I insinuated the powerful effect it would product upon the 
sectaries ; the beneficial influence it would have upon religion and 
country, were his Grace to give his public approval of the decision of 
the Holy See by his laying in person amid the assembled prelacy and 
people the foundation stone of our new university. You will, I am 
sure, be surprised to hear — agreeably surprised to hear — that his Grace 
has consented, as soon as we can have the plans of our new university 
arranged, not only to assist at laying but to lay, m propria persona et 
propriis manibus, its foundation stone." 

*' This," he adds, "I think is a victory enhancing the triumph at 
Rome, and which will be the occasion of spreading consternation among 
our enemies." 

Although Dr. Maginn did not live to see the actual 
commencement of that great work of which he had been 

* For this and Dr. Maginn's other Koman correspondence, see Ap- 
pendix. 



132 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

SO early and so judicious an advocate, it is due to his 
memory to give this extract — though evidently thrown 
off in a moment of private confidence — as entitling him 
to be reckoned among the founders of the Catholic 
University of Ireland. 

While these affairs were occupying all minds in Ire- 
land, the position of the Holy Father, who had thus 
rescued the cause of Catholic education from imminent 
danger, was becoming daily more intolerable at Kome. 
During the very days when the Irish Church was exulting 
over its great deliverance, the august Pontiff had to be- 
hold the assassination of Count Rossi, his minister, and 
of Monseigneur Palma, one of his secretaries. He himself 
remained a prisoner in the hands of the radical faction, 
from the 15th of November. His faithful Swiss were 
dismissed, and the Civic Gruard, the creatures of'the dem- 
agogue Sterbini, became his jailors. On the evening of 
the 24:th, assisted by the Duke d'Harcourt, ambassador 
of France, and the Count Spaur, ambassador of Bavaria, 
he escaped from the Quirinal, in the disguise of an at- 
tache of the Bavarian embassy, under the title of " doc- 
tor," and in a few hours was safely lodged in Gaeta. On 
the 16th of July following, his authority was restored in 
Eome by the French, under General Oudinot. His exile, 
therefore, may be said to have lasted precisely eight 
months.* 

* For some interesting details of these events, consult Dr. Cullen' 
letter in the Appendix, 



LIFE OF BIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 133 

The Bishop of Derry, duly informed of all that took 
place at Eome, rose from a sick bed on the intelligence 
of the Pope's flight reaching Ireland, to prepare that 
pastoral letter, which of itself would embalm his memory 
in the undying charity of all Catholic hearts. Hitherto 
he had addressed Eome on the wrongs of Ireland — now he 
was to address Ireland on the wrongs of Eome. And 
not only Ireland ; for, since the admission of the Catho- 
lics to civil rights in the British empire, it is the privilege 
of the Irish Church to make her notes of challenge or 
of warning heard throughout the earth. There is, per- 
haps, no division of the Church militant whose word goes 
so far or strikes so deep. Her great living writers know 
this well ; her Doyles and her Maginns also proved it in 
their day. We have seen in Eoman newspapers long 
extracts froiii the letters to Lord Stanley ; the Paris, 
Belgian, American and Catholic journals spread the 
sentiments conceived in the quiet cottage at Buncrana 
over two continents. In his Pastoral on the Pope's exile, 
Dr. Maginn felt the height of his position, and his voice 
went forth with immense effect. His English is more 
smooth and compact than usual; his high heroic spirit 
soars above the orbis in urbis^ like its own eagle, with an 
eye that penetrates to the east and the west, to the 
dawn and the sunset, through ancient days and modern 
events."^ 

* See Appiendix for this Epistle entire 



134 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

This pastoral convej^ed and read to the Holy Father 
at Gaeta drew forth his warmest approbation. A pre- 
vious letter of the Bishop's received before His Holiness' 
flio^ht, had the honor of a direct acknowled^-ment from 
the illustrious obj ect of it."^ It is hardly too much to 
say that in those eventful daj^s no Irish Prelate stood 
higher at Eome than Dr. Maginn, and that the personal 
influence thus honorably obtained promised the best re- 
sults for the future relations of the Irish Church with 
the Holy See, 

* See Dr. Cullen's letter of September 5. 1848. Appendix. 



CHAPTEE YII. 

INFLUENCE OF THE FAMINE ON PUBLIC SPIRIT — DR. MAGINN's LETTERS 
ON " tenant-right" — HIS LETTERS TO LORD STANLEY — HIS POPIi 
LAEITY — EFFECT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ON IRELAND — PA- 
TRIOTIC ATTEMPTS TO RE-UNITE THE NATIONAL PARTIES — THE 
PROTESTANT REPEALERS AND MR. SHARMAN CRAWFORD, M. P. — EX 
TEAORDINARY CIRCULAR OF THE EARL OF SHREWSBURY — THI 
YOUNG IRELAND CATASTROPHE — DR. MAGINN's CORRESPONDENCE 
WITH THE CASTLE IN RELATION THERETO — HIS SYMPATHY WITK 
THE DEFEATED PARTY AND THE STATE PRISONERS. 

Nor was Dr. Magina's attention wholly or even prin- 
cipally directed to Eoman affairs and English intrigues, 
in those eventful years '47 and '48. The condition of 
the poor, the distribution of the charities of many coun- 
tries, the niggardliness and maladministration of the gov- 
ernment grants, the stealthy ravages of proselytism fol- 
lowing famine like its shadow — all claimed his attention. 
It was in this year, the second of his episcopacy, that by 
a succession of public services to the country and religion, 
his talents became familiarly known and widely influen- 
tial. Of these we shall speak in the order of time. 

After O'Connell's death, and the second general failure 



136 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

of the potato harvest, social questions were forced upon 
the Irish mind with an emphasis, which in less calamitous 
times, would have been quite thrown away on that im- 
aginative and immaterialist nation. The question of the 
land, superceded "repeal" in the hearts of most men not 
wholly broken down by the pressure of the times and 
taxes. An ^' Irish Council" to promote reproductive 
employment on the soil, taking the government loan as 
the capital and improved modes of cultivation as the 
method, sat regularly in Dublin. It contained many 
patriotic men ; Lord Cloncurry, Sir Colman O'Loghlen, 
Mr. Butt, Mr. Duffy, Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Chetwode, Mr. 
Monsell, the poet Ferguson, and many more. Its first 
meeting had been attended by O'Oonnell, who soon after 
made a last mournful plea for the poor in Parliament, and 
went abroad to die. The^Young Ireland party endeavored 
to become practical, and began to study in statistics and 
political economy. The decaying association contributed 
its slower impulse to the general current of men's minds. 
Tenant-right meetings were held in Ulster ; throughout 
the North generally, a fierce agitation sprung up in op- 
position to the imposition of an average poor-rate all 
over the island. Sir Eobert Peel's dictum that ''the 
property of Ireland should be made to support the pov- 
erty of Ireland," was looked upon by the industrious 
tenant of the North with as much dislike as by the mort- 
gage-ridden squire of the South. They both held that 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 137 

the calamity being imperial, the relief ought to be im- 
perial ; that the taxation of each union should be rated 
according to its internal condition ; that employment for 
labor, and legal security for improvements on land, was 
what the country wanted, not alms and an army of fresh 
officials. These discussions certainly turned the Irish 
mind into new channels, and although there was a digres- 
sion to revolutionary experiments in '48, that mind has 
ever since, it seems to me, kept the direction the famine 
gave it. 

Dr. Maginn, gifted wit]j the intuitive eye of a wise 
patriot, was one of the first in the new field of discus- 
sion. His letters to the Cork Tenant league, to Dr. 
McKnight of Derry, and to James Caufield, Esq., were 
among the earliest and the best writings on the land 
question. Taken in connection with his evidence before 
the Devon Commission, they form a monument of in- 
formation and observation on the social state of Ireland."^ 

At the close of '47, Dr. Maginn considered himself 
called upon to rebut and refute in a series of letters to 
Lord Stanley, an intolerable statement made by that 
nobleman in his place in Parliament against the priest- 
hood of Ireland. The words spoken on the 23rd of No- 
vember, in the House of Lords, were these : 

"la the main," said Lord Stanley, "I think the Roman Catholic 
priesthood to be untiring in the discharge of their religious duties, de- 

* See Appendix. 



138 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

voting themselves to their faith, and sparing neither pains nor time in 
the due performance of the functions of their holy office. But I must 
not conceal the fact, that the Roman Catholic priesthood of Ireland do 
not lend themselves to the support of the law. There is a fatal breach 
between the Roman Catholic clergy and the law ; the confessional is 
conducted with a degree of secretness, and carried to an extent dan- 
gerous alike to the civil government and the peace of the country. The 
priest conceals the secrets of the guilty penitent, and is ever ready to 
denounce the informer. Among rec-ent instances there are many start- 
ling proofs of the knowledge or connivance of the priesthood in the 
sanguinary crimes of the peasantry." 

On this text, Dr. Maginn wrote those three right, 
manly, and eloquent letters, which will be found in our 
Appendix, under the title *^ fetters to Lord Stanley."* 
Coming out immediately after his brilliant letters on 
Tenant-right, they crowned his reputation with a religious 
triumph, and made him almost immediately, after Dr. 
MacHale, the most popular Bishop in the Kingdom. The 
name of Derry became familiar where it had long sound- 
ed strange ; it was gratefully recognized as one of the 
popular strongholds of the Tenants' cause; everything 
that bore its date was carefully read and pondered, and 
men blessed God that he had raised up in those dark, 
perplexing days, its gifted and courageous Bishop. 

Among the new correspondents attracted to him by 
the letters to Lord Stanley, was the faithful and eccen- 
tric Tom Steele, ^^ O'Conneirs Head Pacificator of Ire- 
land," as he proudly styled himself. A couple of very 
curious and characteristic letters of poor Steele's, will be 
* Appendix. 



LIFE OF EIGHT EEV. EDWARD MAQINN. 139 

found among the documents in this volume."^ Other 
and more important correspondents he also gained about 
the same time, but we doubt if any accession to his list 
could have gratified him more than that of O'Connell's 
most faithful adherent. His own attachment to the de- 
ceased leader had been almost as enthusiastic as Steele's. 
He was one of his sincerest followers living, and one of 
the most deeply affected of all the immense multitude 
who followed him to his honored rest, in Glasnevin 
cemetery. 

It had been one of O'Connell's most cherished objects 
to transfer the party he had formed — if two-thirds of a 
nation may justly be designated a party — to the leader- 
ship of his favorite son, John. Those who were nearest 
the capital of the agitation early saw that Mr. John O'Con- 
nell had neither the gifts of mind, body or temper, neces- 
sary to supply his father's place. To throw on him the 
whole blame of "the secession" of 1846, would be un- 
fair and untrue; there was on the the other side some 
precipitancy, much, self-opinion, and great recklessness 
of consequences. Plad, however, the new candidate for 
chieftainship possessed the ordinary qualities by which 
power once created is conserved, there is little doubt 
that the majority of the present generation would have 
faithfully followed him. We write with the impartiality 

* See Appendix. 



140 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

of many added years of experience, ^Yllen we avow our 
firm conviction that he was wholly deficient in the 
amenity, generosity, vigor and justice so necessary in 
the successor to a popular sovereignty. The patriotic 
prelates who had most heartily entered into the fond 
father's views, began one b}^ one to make this discovery, 
as time wore on. In June, '48, we find the Bishop of 
Clogher, one of the most devoted friends of O'Connell, 
writing to Dr. Maginn : '^Mr. J. O'Connell is pursuing 
a course which will strengthen his opponents and leave 
him powerless. I made an effort last week to communi- 
cate briefly to him my poor opinion, but my letter, 
though not marked as such, he has, I suppose, looked 
upon as 'private,' likewise Dr. Blake's — " the aged 
Bishop of Dromore. It is plain, from the letters of seve- 
ral Bishops w^hich wo have seen, that, though no one 
could be more obsequiously humble while they were co- 
operating with him, he could also be petulantly self- 
willed when they became his catechists or counsellors. 
Like most small minds he seems to have mistaken obsti- 
nacy for firmness, and to have clung the more despe- 
rately to his few driftless ideas, as adviser after adviser 
parted his company. It is impossible to account for his 
conduct in the first half of '48, on the hypothesis of his 
political honesty, without admitting the aggravating ill 
effects of his most unfortunate temper. 

The political torpor of 1847 was thoroughly dispelled 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 141 

by the French Eevolution of February, '48, and the stir- 
ring events that followed it. Every lover of the country 
was stirred by the glorious opportunity presented. The 
high-spirited old peers, Lord Cloncurry and Lord 
French, who remembered Ireland before the Unioii 
declared emphatically for its ^^ repeal ;" Lord Wallscourt, 
a Connaught proprietor, half French socialist, half feudal 
chief, joined the Young Ireland party; Lord Miltown 
returned to the old one. Many patriotic Priests began 
to agitate the union of both sections, and the co-operation 
of the Bishop of Derry was earnestly solicited. 

Dr. Maginn's relations at that time to each section, 
*raay best be stated in the language of his own letters. 
In '47 he had given in his adhesion to Mr. John O'Con- 
nell, in a public letter characterized by all his usual fer- 
vor and energy. In acknowledgment of this adhesion, 
he received the following reply from Mr. John O'Con- 
nell : 

Dalkey, (Govntran Hill,) Dublin, May^ 8, 1847. 

Right Rev. my Very Dear Lord : 

I am in receipt of the great and kind favor of your lordship's con- 
descending letter enclosing ten pounds, (half note,) your own muni- 
ficent donation and that of your respected clergy to the Repeal Rent. 
I say munificent^ for its actual magnitude is enhanced b}^ the circum- 
stances of the terrible distress and terrible burthens upon you, which 
the calamity of the country has caused. 

I shall of course observe your lordship's injunction as to not giving 
the names to the papers. IIow is it possible I can thank you for your 
generous, your affectionate kindness to my dear, dear father ! Alas, he 
is in a very low state. The hope is yet left to ue, in addition to our 



142 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD HAGINN- 

humble trust that Providence raised him up for a special purpose, and 
will support him to its accomplishment. 

If I want words to thank you for him, how can I possibly hope to 
express my feelings at the surpassing kindness and generous encou- 
ragement of your too — I must say far too high opinion of myself. 
Would to God I in any way merited it ! Then I 7night be of use to 
poor Ireland j whereas now I can do little more than give her my 
eart's best wishes, and if need were, its blood. 

The attempted conference between " Young" and " Old" Ireland has 
failed of good results, and the " Nation" fiercely attacks me upon the 
untrue — most utterly untrue — assertion that I contemplated alliance and 
place- seeking ivith and from the government'; In the "Nation" itself 
they have been obliged to give my correction of this gross mis-state- 
ment, although they so furiously attack me. They also attack me be- 
cause I refused to consent — at least without my father's assent duly 
had, to the dissolution of the Association, to spare the Young Irelanders 
the " mortification," as they alleged, of re-joining the body. They 
want to establish a new body, made up of the old, and of their own 
confederation ; but object to the spirit, as well as the seiise of the peace 
resolutions, (see " Nation," leading article this day,) although they talk 
of taking counsel's opinion on the rules of the new body, whatever 
kind of thing it should turn out to be. They are very indignant at my 
not at once consenting to give up the association that weathered the storm 
of the state-prosecutions, &c., &c. 

Coupling this with the exceedingly violent speeches made on recexfc 
occasions by Meagher, O'Gorman, Mitchel and Doheny, I do not in- 
deed, my dear lord, see how it is possible, at least at present, to make 
another advance towards these gentlemen. Their language is getting 
every day more and more inflammatory, and there is an attempt at 
fraternization with the fag-end of the implacable Orange party, who 
delude them with some fair words, and who really want to gather aid 
against what they call " priestly encroachments." 

We have no immediate letter about my dear father, at least that I 
have as yet seen — (2 P.M. ) but by the newspapers we learn he has 
been again able to move a little way on — slowly. I fear he cannot pos- 
sibly go farther than the South of France this summer. Believe me, 
reverend my dear lord, most respectfully and most heartily your much 
obliged and very faithful, John O'Connell. 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIK:N-. 143 

At the end of tlie previous year, just at the time '' the 
Irish Confederation" was founded, and six months after 
the secession, he had the following correspondence with 
Mr. Duffj, Editor of the Nation: 

DR. MAGINN TO MR. DUFFY. 
Dear Sir — I herewith send you a post-office order, amount, £1 6s., 
due, or coming due, for the Nation newspaper. You wiU have the 
goodness to desist, for the present, sending it to me, lest my continuing 
a subscriber should be interpreted an approval of a schism inauspi- 
ciously begun and mischievously persevered in. Having had the 
pleasure of an early acquaintance with your respectable family, I do 
candidly say that I took an interest in everything that appertained to 
you, and was proud, as a Northman, of the exceedingly able paper 
which you edited. Since, however, it has become an instrument of 
dissension, advocating the eternal separation of those whom a common 
aim and object should unite in the strong sentiments of brotherhood, 
and aspersing the sacred character of one so justly dear, even had he a 
thousand faults, to ever}^ genuine Irishman, to retain it longer must 
seem a dereliction of duty. If you were to take the advice of one who 
wishes you well, I would in all earnestness recommend, for the good 
of your country, a sacrifice of your own cherished opinions — a forget- 
fulness and a forgiveness of whatever wrongs you may think you have 
endured, and a speedy reconciliation with '-the Liberator." If nothing 
else could induce you to take this advice, the fact of 3^our paper be- 
coming the pet of the unblushing haters of your country, should make 
you perceive that your present course is not a proper one. Believe 
me, since Mr. OConneirs proposed reconciliation, public opinion is 
fast ebbing from you, and the abettors of your party are here merely 
a few among the dregs of society, whose support of any cause must 
prove its ruin. To speak thus to you gives me exceeding pain, and 
were I not your friend I would have been more brief and less candid. 
I am, dear Sir, yours truly, ►J* Edward Maginn. 

MR. DUFFY TO DR. MAGINIf. 

Januari/ 6, 1847. 
Mij Dear Lord — I am sincerely obliged by your kind letter and by 
the motives that suggested it ; and I am not the less grateful to your 



144 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

lordship for your personal kindness because you deem it right to dis- 
continue the Nation on the grounds stated. But in my own justifica- 
tion I must remind your lordship, that it was not I nor my friends who 
commenced the quarrel, nor is it our fault that it continues. We would 
willingly have gone back to the Association, if Mr. O'Connell had con- 
sented to a fair audit of the accounts for the future — they have been 
unfairly audited and disbursed hitherto — and to a real, bonajide, honest 
agitation for Repeal. His refusal of those concessions left us no option 
but to join what appears to us, who have seen the working of the sys- 
tem for years, the mere pretence of a Repeal Agitation, conducted with 
personal objects alone, or to take the course we have taken. 

I am sorry to learn from your lordship that our supporters in Derry 
are of such a character ; but we did not choose these men, and do not 
communicate with them; while on the other hand, we know that the 
men of best character and ability, prominent in the agitation, have 
openly sympathized with us. But in either case, the opinions, not 
the men, are the questions of importance. 

I trust, and indeed feel convinced, that time will convince your lord- 
ship that the Seceders had, and have, no other object than the honest 
service of their country. 

Believe me, my dear lord, very faithfully yours, 

C. G. Duffy. 

The Right Rev. Dr. Maginn, Bishop of^Derry. 

Subsequently, we will find the hope expressed in Mr. 
Duffy's letter fulfilled by the change wrought in Dr. Ma- 
ginn's mind. It was not, however, a change of principle, 
but a modification in his estimate of persons, brought 
about by a closer and more lengthened observation of 
the principlas in ^'the secession." 

Immediately after the French Eevolution, the Eev. 
Dr. Miley, of Dublin, who had accompanied O'Connell 
in his last journey and closed his eyes in death, believing 
the time to be propitious, resolved to renew the attempts 
of the preceding year for a ^' Union of all Eepealers." 



LIFE OF KIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIKN. 145 

In conveying to the Bishop a printed proposition of Dr. 
Grentili's, that all Ireland should be placed under the 
special patronage of the Blessed Virgin under the title 
of the Immaculate Conception, Dr. Miley writes, in 
March : 



While I was absent from home— in England — I saw with reviving 
hope for our down-trodden Ireland, some statement to the effect that 
your lordship was occupied on some plan for setting us in motion on 
the uphill, but still sacred, enterprize of battling by tongue and pen for 
the rights, and against the wrongs, of our country. I beg most earnestly 
to offer myself as a conscript in this crusade under the gonfalon^ which 
I trust ere long your lordship will unfold to the longing eyes of as 
many amongst us as have not as yet acquiesced in slaver}^, or been 
guilty of despairing of a cause which Christianity convinces us must be 
in the highest favor with the Almighty. 

Never were the minds of the empire so intently turned on this coun- 
try as now. IS'ever, I believe, did there exist such a disposition to be 
enlightened as to the mystery of its misfortunes. IN^ow, my Lord, if 
some fifteen or twenty good men and true of the cierg}^ if possible, 
with your lordship and a few more of our prelates (should that be 
deemed expedient), were to assemble quietl}' here in Dublin, and hav- 
ing well digested the case of Ireland in their conference together, and 
apportioned the subjects to come together with certain la}^ gentlemen, 
(if it should be deemed advisable), and by speeches well prepared and 
full of fads, and by reports to break out suddenly amidst this silence 
of expectation, Avith such an impeachment of the misrule and the 
grievances to which our misery is to be traced as no one could deny 
or refute — don't you think, my Lord, that the best results might fol- 
low, especially were we to take judicious and effectual measures, by a 
standing committee, occasional meetings, reports, and deputations to 
England, &c., &c., to follow up the blow with continuous and persever- 
ing exertion 1 This v/ould rid us of all by-gones, whether leagues or 
associations, and of all old factious responsibilities ; it would lift up 
liope in the people ; it would keep the clergy in their position, that is. 
at the lielm. If your lordship would not, or could not, be present — 
whicli Heaven forbid ! — would you not commission some one or two 
7 



146 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINIS^. • 

of 3'our clergy to take part in such meeting I It is another opportunity 
which, if not seized, we shall be sure to see when there is no remedy. 
Of course, to arouse the world to a sense of the despotism, making 
haste to come in the now, alas ! familiar form of famine, and to force 
the rulers cither to do their duty or be disgraced, should form a main 
object of that meeting. I know your lordship will generously and 
readily excuse the liberty with which I have written, and believe me to 
be your lordship's ever faithfully and most respectfully, J. Milisy. 

Dr. Maginn received this proposition with all tho 
heartiness of his nature, and out of the correspondence 
sprung those conferences between Young and Old Ireland 
which, in the month of June following, led to the disso- 
lution of both ^'the Association" and '^the Confedera- 
tion," and the formation from both of ^'the Irish 
League." The share of Dr. Maginn in this coalition, 
then so promising, was active and influential from the 
first. A mob in Limerick having been excited to break 
up a Young Ireland meeting, and offer personal violence 
to Mr. Smith O'Brien, in April, Dr. Maginn took advan- 
tage of the occasion to offer Mr. O'Brien, by letter, the 
assurance of his personal sympathy and regard. This 
letter we have not found among his papers, but Mr. 
O'Brien's reply indicates its cordial character: 

UK. o'erien to dr. maginn. 

Dkuid Lodge, Kilkenny, May 5, 1848. 
Ml/ Bear Lcn-d: 

Your very kind letter, prompted by the most generous emotions, 
has been productive of the sentiments which yon desired, in writing it, 
to inspire. I need not assure your Lordship that the bodily injury 
which I have sustained in consequence of the affair at Limerick, has 
not been deemed by me worthy of consideration, but I confess that my 



LIFE OF RIGHT EEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 1-17 

my spirit is deeply wounded by this occurrence, and that my hopes fo^ 
Ireland's freedom have been greatly discouraged by it. ^ 

The assurances which I receive from every quarter, that the perver- 
sity which gave occasion to this proceeding finds no support or 
approval amongst any portion of the Repealers of Ireland, tend, 
indeed, to counteract its consequences, both as regards myself and the 
Cause ; and you Avill believe me when I say that such a manifestation 
of feeling could emanate from fcAV persons with more soothing effect, 
than from your Lordship. Accept, therefore, my very sincere thanks 
for your vei'y gratifying letter. 

A circumstance has occurred with regard to your Lordship's letter, 
which, I trust, will not cause you as much anxiety as it has occasioned 
to me. I received it to-day when in Dublin, engaged with several 
visitors, read it hastily, and not perceiving that you were desirous that 
it should be regarded as a confidential communication, intimated its 
contents to those present. Upon re-perusing it carefully, when I 
returned home, I found that you are desirous that 3'our name should 
n-ot be mentioned in connection with your subscription to the Defence 
Fund. I instantly dispatched a messenger to the Office of the Nation 
to stop the publication of your name, and trust tliat I have thus atoned 
for the inadvertence of VvTiich I had been guilty. 

Believe me, my dear Lord, your very obliged friend, 

W. S. 0-BhiEN. 

Simultaneously with his entering into commnnication 
with Mr. O'Brien, the Bishop had urged the necessity 
of a re-union on Mr. John O'Connell, Mr. Duffy, and 
other gentlemen. Their replies will show the spirit in 
Avhich they received these paternal advices : 

MR. JOHN O'CONNELL TO DR. MAGINN. 

[Private-] ' May 'il, 1848 

My Revered Good Lord : 

Duty and respectful attention make mo anxious to submit to you the 
result, iso far as yet obtained, of our " co7ifercoiccs'^ with the Con- 
federates. 

After our next meeting, Friday, I expect we shall meet no more ; but 
shall each be calling on the country to discountenance the otlicr. 



148 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

^ I send a similar document to Dr. Cantwell ; and I am, my revered 
*■ iiord, most deeply, respectfully, and faithfully, yours ever, 

JOFIN O'CONNELL. 

MR. JOHN O'CONXELL TO DR. MAG INN. 

Dublin, Jime 7, 1S48. 
Jif?/ Dear and much respected Lord: 

I am truly liapp}^ that your Lordship a[)proves of what lias as yet 
been done. 

You may depend on my doing my best to forward the re-union of 
Repealers so much desired. 

I shall do so heartily and in earnest, while in my own mind, doubt- 
ing much the decision the country has made ; and fearing the results, I 
am, my dear Lord, with deep respect, esteem, and affection, 

Yours most faithful h^ 

John O'Connell. 

Morton Raxelagh. June 22, 1848. 

My Dear Lord. — I am exceedingly sorry that I have been deceived 
into using your Lordshlp^s name in connexion with the Derry meeting. 
The Confederation were certainly under the deluded impression, that 
the movement was one countenanced by you, and since it is not, I am 
tolerably sure they will not take part in it. 

There is no longer any impediment to the Irish League but mere 
personal hesitation on the part of Mr. John O'Connell. At a meeting 
of the '' Conference last night, he proposed to retire from politics 
for some time, to give the League a fair trial ; but as it was appre- 
hended that his retirement would deter some of the clergy from going, 
he was strongly urged not to do so. It is not yet certain how he will 
act. Believe me, my dear lord, very truly yours, 

C. G. DUPFY. 

The Right Rev. Dr. Maginn. 

P. S. I too think Mr. Kenyon's letter most indiscrest and injurious ; 
but we must not allow the escapades of individuals, on either side, to 
separate the Irish people any longer. 

The protraction of these meetings was most perilous* 
and impolitic at such a season of excitement, and truth 
compels us to declare that the delay was mainly, if not 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINX. 149 

solely, the work of Mr. John O'Connell. At an early 
sitting he asked a fortnight's delay, which was granted ; 
at the next he asked a second fortnight, which was again 
granted. In that eventful month the impetuous Mitchel 
was arrested, the suspension of the habeas coiyus was 
determiined on, whole counties were proclaimed under 
martial law, the Club system expanded with dangerous 
suddenness, and the country, long accustomed to asso- 
ciated control, was abandoned to the frenzy of the hour. 
A month's time wasted in indecision, under the circum- 
stances, was a national calamity of the most serious 
kind, and this calamity the unworthy son of O'Oonnell 
brought assuredly upon his country. 

While this willful waste of time was made at Dublin, 
gleams of hope arose and shone for Ireland in most un- 
expected quarters. A society called ^^ The Protestant 
Eepeal Association" had been improvised in the capital, 
out of the more advanced members of "the Irish Coun- 
cih" Mr. Vance, Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Ireland — all able 
and honorable men — were its founders. Greater names 
were whispered as to come. Mr. Sharman Crawford, 
the Nestor of Ulster liberalism, was certainly well dis- 
posed towards this movement, as the following letter 
will show : 

MR. SHARMAN CRAWFORD TO DR. MAGINN. 

London, May 9, 1848. 
My Bear Lord, — I did not till yesterday receive your kind letter of 
the 3d inst., it having arrived at my residence after my departure for 



150 LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWAKD MAGINN. 

London, it was forwarded after me to this place, and this was the cause 
of delay in my receiving it. 

I am truly thankful for the expressions of confidence w^hich it con- 
tains. I can assure you I should feel it the proudest day of my liife, 
if I could lead on the Protestant population of Ulster in an effort for 
the restoration of a domestic Parliament. 

I have always felt that no good could arise from the Repeal of the 
Union, if carried in hostility to Protestant feeling. If, however, the 
Protestant interest can be brought to bear upon it favorably, I conceive 
it to be the only chance of salvation for Ireland. I expect that in a 
few days you will see my sentiments more fully developed on this 
point. I was requested to attend a meeting of the Dublin Protestant 
Repeal Association. It was not in my power to do so. I, however, 
wrote a letter in terms which, I trust, you will consider calculated to 
foster the Protestant movement. It will probably be published in the 
report of the meeting which was appointed to take place this day. I 
agree with you that an amalgamation of Protestant support with that 
of your denomination, in this great, and, I think, just cause, is the only 
escape which we can look forward to from continued and increasing 
agitation, discord and confusion, and perhaps in the end to that great- 
est of all evils, civil war. You may depend on my using every effort 
in my power to give effect to Protestant opinion on this question, if a 
sufficient body of my brethren come forward to indicate it. 
Yours, my dear lord, faithfully, 

W. Sharman Crawford. 

Right Rev. Dr. Maginn, &c., &c., &c. 

About tills time the following extraordinary propo- 
sition was sent in circular form from the Earl of Shrews- 
bury's friend, the Eev. Dr. "Winter, to all the Irisfc. 
Bishops : 
LORD Shrewsbury's circular, recobimending a new repeal 

AGITATION. 

[Copy.] Alton Towers, April 6, 1848. 

JDear JOr. Wiyitcr : 

Each day the condition of Ireland seems to rae more and more 
alarming. Hitherto I have e^er been an enemy to Repeal, because I con- 
ceived repeal to be Republicanism, and republicanism to be Communisir. 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWAKD MAGINN. 151 

besides which I always hoped for justice to Ireland by some less dan- 
gerous process, and was also satisfied that the power of England was 
capable of maintaining order and subordination in Ireland till that 
happy day should arrive. But the French Revolution has changed all 
things, and put at nought all our calculations. Now I begin to feel 
even Repeal might be a blessing — it might save Ireland from Rebelhon 
and England from Chartism. If all w^ould become Repealers ; if the 
whole Hierarchy of Ireland would embi-ace Repeal as the last hope of 
averting the dreadful alternative of civil v/ar — and tho certain con- 
sequence of civil war, if it were successful. Communism — then, indeed, 
we might expect to see a less deplorable result. If the whole Clergy 
of Ireland were united in the cry for Repeal, it would also unite with 
them a large body of the middle classes, and even a very numerous 
landed proprietary. In this case the};' would be able, it is to be hoped, 
to guide the destinies of the people into a more moderate course, and 
retain them under the influence of religion. Whereas, if Repeal were 
the consequence of rebellion, the government of the rabble would be 
the result, and Ireland would be France on a small scale at the very 
best. 

The present administration is infatuated, and I feel confident that we 
have no hope from them. Their intentions are equally good, but they 
have not the energy to carry them out, aud give for a reason that the 
prejudices of Scotland and England are too great to be surmounted by 
anything less than bloodshed and confusion, both here and in Ireland. 

If, then, a sufiiciently formidable display of Repealers could be 
organized, I think the Government would resign their power to Sir 
Robert Peel, to whom every one looks forward as the probable Saviour 
of his country. This would be another hope ; for, perhaps, PecVs 
justice, and the settlement of the Church question, might even avert 
Repeal itself 5 if not, lie would be far more likely to make the necessary 
sacrifice to escape that most awful of all calamities. Civil "War. In 
fine, things cannot go on as the}- are, and any expedtent is worth the 
trial for the safety of the Empire. Ireland, alas ! is not like Sicily, 
but is full of antagonistic races and antagonistic principles ; so that 
unless the whole power of the Catholic clergy were brought to bear 
upon the conduct of the legislature in case of Repeal, we should soon 
be involved in a worse predicament than that from which Ireland is 
now seeking to escape. All, then, will depend upon the assertion 
of sound principles by the clergy ; if they fall into Republicanism, 



152 LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 

and Republicanism is to lead to Communism and Infidelity^ "we had far 
better fight it out, and leave the issue to God. 

I have written to my good friend, Dr. Ennis, much in the same 
strain. I wish you would see him, and give me your united opinion on 
the matter. 

Believe me, dear Dr. Winter, most truly and faithfully yours, 

Shrewsbury. 

P.S — I think, also, that the present' moment'presents a more favor- 
able opportunity for Repeal, than any other, because our own dif- 
ficulties, both internal and external, will prevent ns acting the bully. 
We should be willing to adjust matters upon amicable terms, and put 
up with inconveniences Avhich, nnder other circumstances, would 
cause a collision. 

A small but respectable section of the Irish gentry, 
who did not go quite so far as repeal, began to meet at 
the eminent Surgeon Carmichaers, and subsequently at 
the Eotunda, to advocate alternate sittings of Parliament 
in Dublin, Edinburgh and London. Colonel Eobinson, 
Dr. Grattan, Mr. Chetwode^ Dr. Graves, Dr. Carmichael, 
and Lord Cloncurry Avere engaged in this advocacy, 
when the Young Ireland explosion frightened them into 
retirement. 

The knowledge that such elements of strength vv^ere, 
or could be, gathered, made men like Dr. Maginn fever- 
ishly anxious for the successful termination of the 
" Conferences.'^ 'We shall let Dr. Miley relate the vari- 
ous fortunes of the negotiation : 

DR. MILEY TO DR. MAGINN. 

Metropolitan Church, Dublin, May 3, 1858. 
Ml/ Dear Lord, — Your Lordship's letter of the 29th ult. appeared to 
me so highly calculated to cheer and confirm the Hon. member for 
Limerick, ia that much of his course which challenges confidence and 



LIFE OF RIGHT BEY. EDWAKD MAGIN^^. 153 

approval, and to set him right as to that portion of it in which he may 
have gone wrong, that I did not hesitate to give it him to read just 
after I had received it on Monday last. No one can be better disposed 
than he is, more entirely devoted to the cause, or happier at receiving 
suggestions and advice, especially from the bishops and clergy. I 
know that he feels profoundly grateful for your Lordship's sympathy 
and exertions in his behalf, and I trust that his career henceforward 
will be such as more than ever to merit this favor. 

Although that affair in Limerick is in some respects a very unfortu- 
nate one, it is still an unequivocal proof of the constancy of the peo- 
ple, and that no man can induce them to trample on gratitude, even 
in the enthusiasm of their pursuit after liberty. There is also reason 
to hope that it may be made the means of bringing about a more satis- 
factory understanding between the two sections than has as yet been 
effected. Some overtures have been made to me by leading confeder- 
ates this forenoon to that effect ; and I hope of the Repeal Committee, 
to which I am just now about to go, that something may be devised to 
bring about an arrangement by which the recurrence of such collisions 
may be prevented, and the two bodies brought to some extent into 
harmony. Without this, success or safety can hardly be hoped for. 

Your Lordship will be hoppy to learn that I have succeeded, quite 
contrary to the anticipations of my friends, in obtaining permission 
from His Grace, Dr. Murray, to have the anniversary office for the Lib- 
erator in our church here on the 16th of this month. Nothing shall be 
left undone to make the solemnity everything that it ought to be ; 
perhaps, too, the assembling of the prelates and clergy which may be 
expected to take place from all parts of the country, would afford a 
favorable opportunity for putting forth some joint expression of opin- 
ion and feeling as to the calamitous condition to which English misrule 
has brought ourselves and our people. Rev. Mr. Maher, of Carlow, 
has been induced to devote himself to the preparation of a detailed 
statement of the horrors of the last two years. Would your Lordship 
consider the matter regarding which I have already written to Dr. 
Cantwell, and intend to write to some of the other prelates and clergy 
What makes the opportunity particularly valuable in my mind is this 
that the prelates and clergy who will assemble are likely to be all, or 
nearly all, of the right sort, and therefore that the danger of any split 
or misunderstanding, in any meeting it may be deemed proper to hold, 
would be got rid of ; and, again, that the occasion of our coming to^ 
gether would be such as to prevent others from taking alarm and at 



154 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

tempting any counter movement. As to your Lordship's presence, I 
most earnestly and respectfully entreat it, as also a word of advice as 
to how the opportunity should be turned to the best account. 

The enclosed most extraordinary document will speak for itself. It 
was to it I alluded in Conciliation Hall on Monday fortnight ; and what 
gives importance to the views and statements in it is, that it was writ- 
ten after the noble Earl had had a long conference with Palmerston, 
Russell, Lord Lansdowne and Sir George Gray on the expediency of at 
once conceding the Repeal of the Union. 

Believe me to be, my dear Lord. 

Most devotedly yours, 

J. MiLEY. 

Right Rev. Dr. Maginn, &c., &c., &c. 

DcBLix, Maij 13, 1848 
* * * We had a meeting last night of the leaders of the three 
associations, Conciliation Hall, Confederation, and the Protestant Re- 
peal Association. In some respects I have not been cheered by the 
result. I fear the men will not work earnestly and heartily together. 
The O'Connells are for loitering, and parry new attempts too much ; 
the Confederates tend to the opposite extreme ; and the Protestants, 
keen, well-intrenched and full of intelligence, seem disposed to take 
up a position of observation. We had, however, some material expla- 
nations, which may be useful. Mr. Ferguson having stated, as did Mr. 
Ireland also, that the Protestants were mainly withheld by the dread 
that the Irish Parliament would be inundated by representatives from 
the Catholic clergy, I ventured to assert that such an apprehension 
was groundless ; that the Catholic clergy were anxious only for the 
independence and prosperity of their country, and not for parliament- 
ary honors. Messrs. S. O'Brien and the O'Connells said they thought 
the examples of Belgium and France should not be lost sight of. I 
differed with them ; and pointing out the obvious difference in the 
case of Ireland, asserted that in my mind to get rid of opposition 
to the Repeal Association, and to secure its success, there was no ex- 
pectancy or hope of that sort which the clergy of Ireland would not 
be found most willing to abjure. I added, that we should ever prefer 
the voluntary principle for our own support, but that in doing so we 
should insist on all other denominations of clergy being reduced 
to the same level, guarantees being given for the life interest of the 
present incumbents. Maurice O'C. said he was ready to guarantee 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGIXX. 155 

support to the Protestant clergy. I differed with hinij as did most of 
the others. Mr. Ferguson seemed quite delighted with the explana- 
tion, and assured me he anticipated, from the communication of what 
I had stated to his party, the most favorable results. He gave me his 
hand with great warmth, and in reply to my suggestion, that as Cath- 
olic priests and bishops were not to sit in Ireland's Parliament, neither 
should the Protestant prelates, he said, with emphasis, " There was no 
fear of that.'^ We are to have another meeting next Wednesday evening. 
I should like to know from your Lordship if you think I went too far ? 
In extreme haste, I have the honor to remain. 

Your Lordship's, very devotedly, 

J. MiLET. 

The Right Rev. Dr. Maginn, &c., &c. 

DuBLix, June 9, 1848. 

My Dear Lord,—l seize on the first moment to announce that at 
length, as if by miracle, the " Union" of Repealers would seem to be 
secured. Last night it was reported to the Conference that both the 
committee of Conciliation Hall and the council of- the Confederates 
had agreed to the new basis and fundamental rules by unanimous vote. 
Of the amount of difficulties which stood in the way of this consum- 
mation, your Lordship can barely form an adequate notion ; and the 
best of it is, that not only is the Union agreed to by all parties, but 
they enter into it with the most cordial good will, and resolve to leave 
nothing undone to effect it, in all honor, and good faith and zeal toge- 
ther. 

The basis and rules were drawn up by Sir Colman O'Loughlin and 
your humble servant. -■' They are to this effect : The object of the new 
body shall be to seek the legislative independence of Ireland by the 
" union of all sections of^ Irishmen, and by the concentration of public 
opinion.'^ Not a word about " physical force." It is a icritten under- 
standing regularly registered, that nothing seditious shall be spoken 
in the Association, and that no one is there to call on the people even 
to arm, though to do so is not exactly illegal. Thus there is no com- 
promise of principle — nothing illegal involved in the Union. As an 
additional guarantee, it is a fundamental rule that no measure is to be 
proposed in the Association until it shall first have passed the commit- 
tee. In short, the new is just as constitutional and legal as the old 
form ; the only difference is, that we abstained from urging those points 
upon which we knew unanimity could never be had, and by not aim- 
ing at a too exact and captious code of restrictions. Safety and the 



156 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN". 

working power, we thought, were what we should look to. It is agreed 
on all hands that this is attained. 

One liitch is still in the way. The secretary of the new body must 
be Mr. Ray. It is the wish of the Confederates to give him a colleague 
with equal powers ; this Mr. Ray refuses. No doubt he is right, and I 
do not despair that a proposal to have an assistant secretary from the 
Confederation was by this evening agreed to. Though apparently a 
trifle, it is a most critical matter, this. Pray Heaven it do not upset 
us! They talk of calling the new thing the "Irish League'' — what 
would your Lordship call it ? That name is not very significant. If all 
be settled this evening, the adjournments are to take place on Monday 
or Tuesday next, and the first meeting of the League is to be an- 
nounced probably for Wednesday week, to be held if possible in the 
Rotunda, in any case on neutral ground. The after, meetings to be in 
Conciliation Hall, and as usual, on Monday," and in the day-time. A 
new name and new decorations were given to the Hall. To this first 
meeting the chief Repealers are to be invited from all parts. Would 
it be possible for your Lordship to come and give your blessing to, and 
set your seal upon, this union, out of which, with God's blessing, shall 
spring the liberty and prosperity of our country ? I believe that with- 
oiit this union the repeal would not be hoped for, and that a terrible 
conflict at no distant day must have happened. But to win for it its 
full effect, it would seem indispensable that the prelates and clergy 
should, by a general action and systematic movement, exert themselves 
to secure a controlling power in it, by giving to John O'Connell such 
pledges and testimonies of their confidence and support, that through 
him as their organ or representative, they may hold the entire body 
within the bounds of religion and order. No one can so effectually 
aid in this as your Lordship. Your word will be a law. Of course, the 
thing requires caution. The feuds which we are trying to bury must 
not be evoked again ; the concord so essential to success must not be 
risked ; but your Lordship, while avoiding all appearance of partizan- 
ehip, will know how to secure for John O'Connell that importance in 
tiie new body which will win for the Catholic interest that weight and 
respect which it deserves. Your Lordship knows as well * * * * 
the motives by which I am actuated in writing thus, as I have been 
throughout the entire progress of this most critical and troublesome 
transaction, that I am sure of being pardoned any seeming of obtru 
siveness which it may bear. 

A line from your lordship regarding this entire affair will be grate- 



LIFE OF RIGHT EEV. EDWARD MAGINJS-. 157 

fully prized, and used as a guide by your lordsliip's very faithful ser- 
vant, J- MiLEY. 

Accordingly, on the 12th of July, the first meeting of 
^'the Irish League" was held, amid great enthusiasm. 
After two years of separation and bitter warfare, the 
divided repealers met again on the same platform. 
There was a great and sincere display of good feeling 
on both sides. Messrs. Stritch, Leyne and Dunne spoke 
for the old Hall ; Messrs. O'Malley, (Eev.) O'Gorman and 
McGree for the Confederation. Both had been dissolved 
to melt into one, not, however, without dropping some 
incongruous particles on both sides. Mr. John O'Con- 
nell held aloof, in high dudgeon, and Mr. Mitchel's sect 
were equally hostile. Too fast for the one, we were too 
slow for the other. A compromise — a middle course — 
was equally objectionable to both extremes. It was 
found very soon that the new legal condenser was too 
fragile for the steam got up by the Clubs, or rather, that 
it was tried too late ! The staff of Old Ireland persisted 
in its retirement, while the vanguard of Young Ireland 
paused a moment, applauded the sentiment of unity, 
and then went on its way, reckless as ever. The Free- 
man got cold, the Nation got hot, the moderates gradu- 
ated into the disgusted, and the fate of the kingdom was 
left between the Castle and the Clubs. Writing after 
the Young Ireland catastrophe, to Under-Secretary Eed- 
ington, Bishop Maginn thus deplores the failure of ^'tho 



158 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIN^". 

Irish League": ^'Dr. Maginn and clergy," he says, ^'did 
not join the League; but they would have joined it, on 
the express condition of their own resolutions (that Ire- 
land's regeneration should be worked out by means 
peaceful, legitimate and Christian), had the League con- 
tinued to exist. Their only regret now is, that they did 
not join it at an earlier date, as their example might 
have been followed by others ; and by the re-union of 
Young and Old, and the concentration of public opinion 
in it, the enthusiasm of the rash but devoted patriots 
of the country would be constrained and directed into 
proper channels, and made conducive to the object all 
had in view — the restoration of our Irish Parliament." 

The catastrophe of Young Ireland took place in the 
first days of August. On the fifth of that month Mr. 
O'Brien walked into Thurles, apparently desperate of 
consequences, and was arrested. Meagher, McManus, 
and others were taken during the week. The rest 
escaped to the Continent or to America, by one strata- 
gem or another. Those taken were tried at Clonmel, in 
October, and sentenced to death — a sentence afterwards 
commuted to transportation for life. Lord Clarendon 
had a triumph, and the national cause was deserted. 
The howl of savage triumph was raised by the London 
press, and broad hints, followed by direct statements, 
appeared, that the letters found in Mr. O'Brien's port- 
manteau, inculpated, among others, the Bishop of Derrj^ 



LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIXX. 159 

These reports at length led to the following correspon- 
dence : 

DR. MAGINN TO UNDER SECRETARY REDINGTON. 

Sir — It has been very wisely said that there is a time for speaking 
out and a time for observing silence. The difficulty, however, has ever 
been in ascertaining the proper times and seasons for doing either or 
both. I candidly admit, Sir, that for the last two months I halted 
more than once in making my selection. A certain party, assuredly 
not the most truthful or amiable in this country, have been making 
themselves and the public familiar with my humble name, by embalm- 
ing it with epithets Vv^hich, like everything coming from them, are 
neither sweet-smelling nor agreeable. I and clergy have been pub- 
licly branded by it as traitors, rebels, preachers of sedition, disaffec- 
tion and disloyalty ; yea, by some of this vile party we have been, 
styled communists and murderers, in intent, of all the honest, virtuous 
and loyal in the land, &c. Having well understood, from the history 
of that infamous faction, that their trade was calumny ; that the venom 
of asps was ever on their lips, and their throats gaping sepulchres ; 
that slander was their daily bread, and that the only means left them 
to sustain the Pelion on Ossa of iniquity, with which they have ever 
borne down and oppressed this unhappy island, were the accumulation 
of falsehoods and deceptions as buttresses against this system ; the 
common sense of mankind they shocked, and the justice they trampled 
upon. I would have patiently borne with this. Sir, and more than this, 
and submitted to all in silence, finding their apology in the force of 
kabit, did not the same party attempt to make others on my account 
— others for whom I have a sincere esteem — large sharers in the favor 
they were bestowing upon me. I believe, Sir, in these circumstances, 
that silence would be no longer a duty. 

Passing over this abuse, permit me. Sir, to proceed at once to what 
they have assigned as its causes. First, Dr. Maginn and his clergy 
joined the League ; secondly, letters from Dr. Maginn to Smith 
O'Brien, of treasonable import, were found in that gentleman's port- 
folio. The first is a palpable falsehood, the second is not less false ; 
and what is worse, the faction knew it to be so, when they proclaimed 
to the world the calumny. Dr. Maginn and "clergy did not join the 
League, but they would have joined it on the express conditions of 
their own resolutions that Ireland's regeneration should be worked out 



IGO LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD :\[AGIXX. 

bj means peaceful, purely legitimate and Christian, had the league 
continued to exist. Their only regret now is that they did not join it 
at an earlier date, as their example might have been followed by 
others, and by the re-union of old and young, and the concentration 
of public opinion in it ; the enthusiasm of the rash but devoted pa- 
triots of the country would have been constrained and directed into 
proper channels, and made conducive to the object all have in view — 
the restoration of our Irish Parliament. The future historian of our 
country, if he be not of the class of the Lelands or the lying Humes, 
will denounce our tardiness and by no means excuse others whose po- 
sition in Ireland made it a duty for them to take the lead. It would 
have been, I acknowledge, a misfortune for this vile faction, had we 
left aside our wicked dissensions, and thus peacefully leagued together ; 
for their hopes of plunder and ascendency would be thereby frustrated, 
rebellion would have been at a discount, and the feast of blood which 
they hungered and thirsted after, they could not even enjoy in imagina- 
tion. 

Secondly. It is equally as untrue that any letters of mine, abetting 
treason, could be found in Mr. O^Brien's portfolio, for I wrote n<me 
such. With that devoted Mshman I had very little correspondence, 
and I am sure he must say none of a treasonable nature. Indeed, 
whatever correspondence I had with him I still feel honored by it, and 
the one letter I had from him I will keep by me as a sacred treasure 
for from its every line is reflected honor, high-mindedness, sincerity 
and patriotism ; and if I could form an opinion from my brief ac- 
quaintance of him, he was the perfect counterpart of the Chevalier 
Bayard, sans pcur, sans rejjroche. Posterity will do him justice, and 
reverse the judgment pronounced upon him. It will pronounce him 
not disloyal to his Queen, but devoted to his country, and that his un- 
happy position was one of necessity, and not of choice. But to return 
to the portfolio : If there have been in it such letters as they describe,, 
why, I say, are they not produced ? They blame the Earl of Clarendon 
for not producing them, while they are quite conscious that he could 
not produce them. They call on the good Earl to prosecute the trai- 
tors. Are not they, forsooth, loyal subjects ! They have the name of 
the Queen, Church, and Constitution constantly on their lips, but where 
is their courage in the good cause • Is it not the duty of every loyal 
subject io seize on the traitors, and bring them to conviction ? They 
accuse me of treason. What have they been doing for the last two 



LIFE OF EIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 161 

montlis ? They could have found me any time since at my residence. 
They had not far to go for me. Believe me, I would have offered them 
no resistance. Without even the suspension of the liaheas corpus, they 
might have had my body. Was it their good wishes for a Popish 
Bishop that restrained them ? Was it their forbearance ? Such, in this 
important case, would be surely criminal. What, then, was it. Sir ? 
Their loyalty in this instance was at least at fault. Oh! but they 
waited for the good Earl of Clarendon to seize on the traitors, and 
bring them to conviction. . But what if the Earl, no matter how dis- 
posed, could not safely do it? No matter ; still he should have done 
it. To victimize a Popish priest or bishop was not surely a business 
of such moment as to need an instant^s consideration. But if the Earl 
had no grounds ? No matter ; still the Earl should have gratified them 
by seizing on the Bishop. Exceedingly bad treatment this, on the part 
of the Earl of Clarendon, of >a faction who so kindly proffered, not to 
fight the battles of the Qaeen — ^for they have been found seldom or 
never on the side of their legitimate sovereigns — no ; but after he 
had won the battle, to be in for the stripping of the dead, the hacking 
of the wounded and dying, and, like dogs and vultures, to prey on the 
bodies or lap the blood ot the slain. What an ungrateful executive' we 
have, since they have been disappointed of the carrion to have refused 
them alive bishop or two, and half-a-dozen of priests ! tempora ! 
mores ^ The time was when they could have had a thousand for the 
asking ; bmt now*this Clarendon whom they have been addressing and 
covering with the slaver of their adulation, whom they have been hail- 
ing throughout the length and breadth of the land as the very paragon 
of viceroys, will not indulge this ogre, notwithstanding its ravenous 
bowlings, with even a Popish curate to feed upon. But, Sir, to be se- 
rious, it is passing strange that neither time nor circumstances can 
change the nature of this ferocious faction. Qiialis ah incoipto servatur 
adimum. It was born amidst treason, cradled in rebellion, and fed 
from its infancy upon blood and plunder ; and now, after three hun- 
dred years of indulgence in rapacity, spoliation and massacre, its appe- 
tite is as ravenous as ever. The reptile of the East, when he has swal- 
lowed his victims, stretches himself on the earth, and satiated, sinks 
into repose ; but nothing, Sir, can satiate our monster — it never re- 
poses. The more you give it the more you whet dts appetite. Earth 
or Heaven have scarcely witnessed its counterpart. The Mamelukes 
of Egypt, the Turkish Janizaries, can be only likened to it by a faint 



162 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

resemblance. When compared with it, a little prey and plunder satis- 
fied them J but our monster — although favored with the tenth of the 
produce and the 'three-fourths of the land of the kingdom of which the 
lawful possessors were robbed ; although they have almost every lucra- 
tive situation in the country ; although insurrection after insurrection 
was provoked by them or got for their profit ; although day after day 
its rich patron and neighbor w^as flinging its gold into its throat ; al- 
though, to make victims for it, hell itself devised its penal codes, ils 
racks, its halters, its scavengers daughters' courts of justice, where 
there was no justice — packed juries and perjured judges — although for 
it was devised a landlord code like that of Draco, steeped in tears and 
written in characters of blood ; although mercy and equity were ex- 
iled from the land, that the monster through it might career with 
impunity and devour the natives like a morsel of bread ; although reli- 
gion's sacred name was abused for them, and whatever was holy in it 
desecrated to their service ; although, in fine, they were allowed to turn 
even the very God of Heaven to their profit, and to make even the 
Holy One to hallow and stamp with his sanction their iniquitous spoli- 
ations and robberies — they are still dissatisfied. They still cry out for 
more victims, more spoliations, more rebellions, more massacres, and 
as the most savory morsel of all, a Popish pontifi" and a few of the 
Levites. An old poet will finish the portrait for me, and if it be not 
appropriate, you. Sir, who know this bane of our country, will be the 
judge. [The quotation is not given in the MS.] 

So armed, so equipped, and so fortified with everything that should 
make it secure and terrible, yet this monster is ever in a fearful trepi- 
dation. Even the noiseless zephyr on the shadow of the spider's thread 
in the sunbeam, makes it shudder. It lustily cries out to its parent 
and the nurse that tended it, to precipitate themselves, with the whole 
armory of despotism, upon its beggared and half-famished enemies. 
It growls and it bellows, should even a crumb of justice be extended to 
them. Extend the franchise ever so little, and the monster cries, " I'm 
in danger !" Let an attempt be made to add the least to the privileges 
of any town or city in the land, and the monster's cry is, '^ I'm exceed- 
ingly in danger !" The smallest share of equity to the miserable serf 
or cottier, woe-stricken the monster cries, '^ I'm awfully in danger !" 
Let but some humane and benevolent person propose a decent provi- 
sion for the skeleton poor, and the monster cries, " I'll die with hun- 
ger I" The bare thought of placing the outcast and the homeless wan- 



LIFE OF EIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 163 

derer on the wide wastes of the kingdom, whereby they could support 
themselves and others, fills the monster with dismay ; and justice to 
Ireland, charity to the poor and the needy, love of man to man. peace 
and concord and harmony — the bare contemplation of such things in 
the prospective, makes it furious. Its thousand tongues are set to roar ; 
it lashes with its tail, tears the very earth that fed it with its teeth ; 
and as to the poor wights who fertilized that earth with the sweat of 
their brows, and gave to the monster, in the way of rents and tithes, 
nearly its whole produce, they are repaid for their pains with the foul- 
est vituperations — are styled savages, vermin, rebels, &c., &c. i ^.nd 
the unhappy ruler who could even think of doing justice, and would 
dare to express his thoughts on that subject, must be prepared to be 
associated with Belial against God — of hell against heaven. Indeed, 
at once he ceases to deserve the name of Christian, and if the monster 
is to be believed, to become nothing less than an infidel, an atheist, a 
pantheist— without a heart to feel or a soul to be saved. 

But the strangest thing of all is, this monster is constantly imputing 
to others digaffectlon, treason, rebellion— the same that was a traitor 
from the beginning, that was born of it, tended by it, and hitherto 
sustained by its treasonable robberies — the same that now makes a 
martyr of the Charles it beheaded, prayed with the same breath for a 
James and a William, balancing its loyalty on the chances of war ; 
now, *' God bless King James V^ and then, as fortune veered, '•' God defend 
King William !'' Preserve us, heaven, from such loyalty as theirs ! The 
lip service of hypocrisy to the king, the heartfelt homage ever paid to 
its own interest, a traitor to its country, a traitor to its king — influ- 
enced by no principle of love, honor, allegiance or duty — ever turning 
around the personal pronoun I, and not even admitting a relative. Its 
motto, '^ Yours is mine, but never mine is yours.'^ No devotion to the 
best of sovereigns, except so far as they feel inclined to sacnfice their 
duty to its interests, by giving up the glorious appellation of being the 
fathers of the nation, for the doubtful one of patron and abettor of a 
faction. 

This, Sir, is no calumny. It is written as clearly as if with a peiucil 
of light in the annals of this unhappy country. James I. promises to 
do something for his Irish sulvjccts — witness Usher's reclamation. A 
Charles wouhl be just to them — they threaten and desert him. A 
William would stand by his treaties — it growls, intimidates, and drives 
him into their violation. A George IV. is advised to emancipate — the 
monster exclaims. You will thereby forfeit your crown — forfeit our al- 



164 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

legiance to it, as it will infringe on your coronation oath. A William 
IV. would grant a Reform Bill — the monster becomes furious — no 
allegiance of even a single rotten borough goes ; and when reform was 
conceded, the monster seeks revenge on the ministry that abetted it ; 
it gathers up its joints to a hill in Down, and lustily howls its treason, 
that Melbourne must go out or it will fight the battle of the Boyne 
over again. 

What short memories, or, at least, indulgent memories, it supposes 
the people of this country to have, when it could imagine that a veil 
of t)blivion was forever drawn over these criminalities. But, Sir, what 
is worse still, its treasonable propensities can not be excused by the 
passion of bygone days ; its recent concocted treason against the be- 
loved sovereign of these realms, while yet, I may say, a child, has all 
the freshness of youth about it. And 0, Sir, it was a foul treason ! — a 
treason against a supposed helpless orphan, and this orphan a female ; 
and what made the crime still more heinous, they conspired to enthrone 
infamy in the place of innocence — a hideous caricature of befouled, 
shattered humanity, instead of the young, lovely, virtuous being, whose 
right was even hallowed by her weak, unprotected condition, and made 
&acred by the duty of the'^Christian as well as of the subject. We re- 
member well. Sir. we could not forget the pretext of the monster 
for its vile iniquity ! viz., the interests of society, forsooth ! A disgrace 
it was, to be sure^ that a woman should reign over this great empire. 
Come, Sir, let those who would brand us as traitors produce Fairman's 
portfolio, their correspondence with the military in Canada ; let them 
reveal the secrets of their ^' lodges,'^ of their committees, of their grand 
masters, their petty masters, its chaplains, its treasurers. I am much 
afraid, if they did, that Mr. Smith O'Brien's portfolio would cut but a 
poor figure, in the way of treason, beside Fairman's bag, and that the 
felonious secrets of the Confederation for the Restoration of an Irish 
Parliament would be scarcely a faint image of the giant felony they 
concocted. Whenever treason is mentioned, the monster should retire 
to his den and covsr itself with the veil of its shame and confusion, if 
indeed the monster can have any such thing as shame and confusion ; 
and at the sound of any reproach upon the name of the Queen, they 
should recollect and tremble, as memory rushed upon it, with the foul 
epithet they affixed to a fame as white as the ermine, and as bright in 
its lustre as the unsullied crystal— the epithet of the wicked Jezabel. 
The heart still recoils even at the contemplation of the barefaced trea- 
sons of the monster, and is shocked at the impudence with vvhich it 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 165 

raises its serpentine crest, and with a hiss, spits its own foul guilt upon 
others, who would have died to preserve the rights of the sovereign it 
would betray. I sincerely regret, Sir, the trespass I have so far made 
on your patience and that of the public. You will find its apology in 
the circumstances giving occasion to it. I have proved the monster a 
traitor, indeed when it had the least confidence of success. I have 
proved it to have ever been a traitor in will, and only shrinking from 
treason when treason became dangerous to its interests. I have proved 
it to have never had any other God but self, any other king but mam- 
mon, any other allegiance to any one thing but to privileged rapacity. 
I now fling defiance at the monster, and dare it to prove any word or 
deed of mine adverse to the lawful sovereign of this realm, or to pro- 
duce from Smith O'Brien's portfolio, or any other, any letter of mine 
exciting to treason or rebellion. But this it will not dare to do — not 
for want of will, for I know it has the will for anything, no matter how 
atrocious — but for want of means to accomplish its bloodthirsty wishes. 
I have. Sir, no hesitation in saying, that had it the means within its 
reach of carrying out its guilty purposes, it would level our churches 
to the ground, massacre our priests and people, make a solitude for its 
own gratification and call it peace ; for it is the indoles of such mon- 
sters to delight in deserts and to roam in wastes. And with respect to 
treason and rebellion, I have less hesitation again in asserting, for I 
know it to be the whole truth and nothing but the truth, that such 
things would have been ever unheard-of in this country, were it not for 
the atrocities of this monster. The English people are daily being 
made the monster's dupes. The rulers of this land scarcely appear 
on its surface when it envelopes them in its coils and inveigles them in 
its snares, and fascinates them by its deceitful blandishments. Ireland 
it defames — the Irish people it calumniates and misrepresents. No 
matter how well-disposed, the ruler, in a short time, sees everything 
through the monster's spectacles ; and the fairest land under heaven, 
and the most virtuous people, if fairly dealt with, put on the hideous 
shape and form, assume the jaundice complexion which this foul me- 
dium of vision exhibits. The present viceroy was the finest boy alive 
while he busied himself for it, in cramming the kingdom with sabres 
and cannon, with spies and detectives, in suspending the habeas cor^nis 
and the liberty of person and of speech, and held out to them the pros- 
pect of immediate carnage ; but the instant he showed signs of return- 
ing reason, and began to feel that his character would be forever dam- 
aged by consorting with such a reptile, and that he could not gratify 



166 LIFE OF RIGHT HEV. EDWARD XAGIXX. 

it with anything less than wholesale derastation and torrents of blood ; 
the instant it perceived that it could not do with impunity as it was 
•v^ont — that it would not be allowed to have its martial law to confound 
the innocent with the guilty and expedite the wished-for destruction 
of the Irish priest and peasant at its discretion, as this would not do 
for England's prosperity or for Ireland's peace — that it could not burn 
down at its good pleasure the poor man's cabin or confiscate the rich 
man's property — that the Earl would not join it in shooting, for its 
amusement, the people — the instant his better nature seemed to revolt 
at the thought of jiffordiEg the monster the fiendish indulgence it cal- 
culated upon, instead of the best, he becomes one of the worst viceroys 
we ever had — altogether too good a boy for it. incapable of conceiving, 
much less doing, the infamous work it had traced out for him. Hence 
it is, that him whom they crowned with flowers, they would now send 
to the gallies, and whom they raised upon a pyramid of fulsome adu- 
lations, they would condemn to the gibbet with an Ilictar alipu ad 
palufTU Yes, my Lord Clarendon, you and party were too good for it ; 
the measure of your perverseness fdl short of their iniquitous bushel. 
You had too much wisdom or too much of the milk of human nature 
for it ; therefore it is that they now say, *• Away with him I" — away 
with you. The fact of its hatred of you is beginning to make others 
who love their country more than themselves, think the more of you, 
and have better confidence in you, as they know that there must be 
something noble and generous about you — some relic of the Divine 
image within you — some kind disposition towards our country and its 
people, when you could thus have earned for yourself this monster's 
detestation. I say this not as the Earl's flatterer ; I would hate my- 
self were I capable of being his or any other man's adulator. No. I 
say it because this monster never loved anything but what was base 
and truculent and barbarous, and never yet hated anything that had 
not some traits of goodness, impartiality and benignity about it. 

I should not, Sir, notwithstanding the length that this letter has 
grown upon me, take my leave of you withont affording the reptile I 
have been describing even still some further excuse for its calumnies ; 
for I delight to have such beings my calumniators. Permit me, theu, 
Sir, to broadly state, in the teeth of the monster, that I am bv no 
means satisfied with things as they are ; that I am disafiected and iis- 
eatisfied with almost everything I gee around me, but the pietr and 
the patience of my poor people ; that I abominate the relation in 



LIFE OF BIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINK. 167 

which the tenant serf is made to stand to his taskmaster ; that I detest 
the manner in which the laws are generally administered in this coun- 
try, in favor of a party against the nation ; that I reprobate, with all 
the powers of my soul, the exclusion of the Irish Catholic from the 
jury-box — a practice but too common for centuries, in the East, the 
West, the ]N"orth and South, and for which the present Attorney-Gen- 
eral does not want a precedent, as he can find it in almost every court 
in the kingdom. I am wholl}' dissatisfied with an alien church estab- 
lishment, the upas tree that has poisoned every fountain stream of 
social life and bliss throughout the country — a fatal, hideous prodigy, 
that has no equal in monstrosity. I am, sir, heartily dissatisfied with 
that misrule which has made our beautiful island a lazar-house, and 
filled our graveyards to bursting with the bodies of our famished 
people. I am by no means satisfied with the vile abuse poured out in 
torrents every day upon my long suffering country and countrymen ; 
and short of an insurrection against the Queen — for this, in principle, 
I could not as a Christian approve of, nor as a lover of my counn-y 
recommend — I would use any and every means that heaven could 
sanction, to remove these nuisances and pull down the colossal iniqui- 
ties that cumber the land. Should there be any person in Ireland sat- 
isfied with things as they are, be he priest or layman, or bishop oi 
ruler, he is an infidel in his heart who does not believe in the existence 
of a just God, a traitor to the land he lives in, and efi'ectually a traitor to 
Queen Victoria, who should be revered as the best of England's sov- 
ereigns since the Reformation ; and to supply a still further reason for 
the monstrous hatred and vituperation, I tell it to liis face * * * [Four 
pages are missing in the MS. It concludes :] — that in despite of it, 
210 matter how it may twist and turn, growl and bellow and bark, 
some Hercules will shortly be found to cleanse the Augean stable, and 
remove the aforesaid nuisances, and that the time will very soon arrive 
when the monster's own fangs will be extracted, its teeth pulled, its 
nails pared, and shorn of its strength, and allowed to die off amidst 
the plaudits of a redeemed nation, cast as a loathsome thing upon the 
earth it cursed, be strangled by the very parent that produced it, and 
the nurse that tended it. But yet a little while, and that God who 
gave our people centuries of adversity, tried them and found them 
faithful, will also give them their trial of prosperity. In the interim, 
let them hope on ; for God is just, though patient, and long-enduring 
because he is eternal. Our strength, however, like that of the lu'iuii- 



168 LIFE OF BIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

tive Christians as described by Tertullian, is on onr knees, and our 
trust in the equity of heaven, always sure, no matter how long de- 
layed. Hi in curribus^ et hi in equis ; nos autem in nomine Domini Dei 
nostri invocahimus. Psalms, xix. : 8. 

I remain. Sir, your faithful servant, 

►J< Edwafd Maginn. 
Ddbt.in Castle, October 3, 1848. 

My LoTd, — I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's 
letter of the 26th ultimo, and which, being marked "private," I pre- 
sume it was not your intention should be treated by me as an official 
document. 

I must in the first instance assure your Lordship that you do me but 
justice in believing " that I should feel deeply pained at anything 
tending to reflect on the character of a minister of the religion which 
I profess — a minister especiall}- of the station of your Lordship in the 
Church. I feel how much the interests of the Catholic body in Ire- 
land depend upon the clergy of our religion preserving the character 
which belongs to ministers of the Gospel of Peace, and that anything 
indicating a different course of conduct on their part could not but be 
viewed by me, and I believe every sincere Catholic, with the deepest 
regret. In reference, however, to the immediate cause of your Lord- 
ship's addressing me, I must at once state that, having no knowledge, 
and not believing that " any letter or letters bearing your signature 
and inciting Mr. O'Brien and others to rebel against her Majesty, 
were found in the portfolio of that gentleman," I cannot but come to 
the conclusion, that your correspondent has been misinformed in 
stating that " some person high in authority in the Castle " had made 
a communication that such was the fact. This I think entirely dis- 
poses of the matter, as far as the letter of your correspondent has 
induced your Lordship, not unnaturally, to make vindication of your 
character from charges of so serious and grave a nature, and which 
to an innocent mind must have been deeply galling. I dismiss, 
equally with your Lordship, all consideration of what may have been 
stated in the public prints, as I have at all times considered that thoee 
who are conscious of the rectitude of their own conduct can well 
afford to disregard the attacks of such concealed adversaries. 

Having stated thus much, your Lordship will see that it is unneces- 
sary for me to refer to the details with which you have favored me, of 
your intercourse with Mr. Smith O'Brien since your first acquaintance 
with him ; and if I decline to make any observations upon the more 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 169 

general question referred to in your letter, namely, the position of 
Ireland as a portion of the United Kingdom, I trust that you will not 
attribute it to any want of respect for your Lordship, but because I 
do not feel that any good would result from my doing so. 

I cannot, however, conclude, without offering a remark upon the 
Postscript to your Lordship's letter, and for which that communication 
itself had not indeed prepared me. 

The course which you may feel it due to your character to take in 
reference to the " Derry Sentinel," is quite a matter for your Lord- 
ship's consideration ; but the challenge which you appear to give to 
the Lord Lieutenant to accept the occasion for making your Lordship 
*' a victim — as expiation to the wounded feelings of imperial misrule" 
■ — is, 3'ou must allow me to say, in my opinion, uncalled for. I can 
confidently assure your Lordship that it is no more the desire than it 
is in the power of the distinguished nobleman entrusted with the 
Government of this country, to make any person victims to aught save 
the consequences which the laws entail upon their crimes ; and, while 
on the one hand it cannot but be painful to all to see those expose them- 
selves to the severe penalties of the law, whose position should have 
led them rather to maintain than de troy the allegiance due to their 
sovereign, yet your Lordship will, I am sure, admit that the equal 
justice which should be meted out to all will require that where the 
guilt is known to exist, the position of the individual, however exalted, 
should not screen him from merited punishment. Such a course you 
will not, I am satisfied, consider as one deserving of reproach, or 
which it would be discreditable that history should record of any 
administi'ation ; and under the assurance that the conduct of the 
Government will be guided by such feelings, your Lordship will 
readily perceive that none but those who have participated in the 
crime need fear its punishment. 

As regards the events which have occurred, I can only assure your 
Lordship that I have felt»mucli gratified at the lo3^al resistance which 
was off'ered by the Catholic clergy, both at Ballingarry and Mullina- 
hone, to the rebellious movements which have recently taken place ia 
that part of the country, and that when the opportunity was thus 
offered, the clergy of our Church have shown their determination to 
support the cause of order and of peace. 

Begging your Lordship will excuse the length of this reply, 

I have the lionor to be, my lord, your faithful servant, 
Right Rev. Dr. Magiun, &c., &c , &c. T. N. Redington 



170 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

The high spirit exhibited in this correspondence at a 
period of universal panic and despondency, is one of 
the most admirable traits in the character of our subject. 
His deep and undisguised sympathy with the unfortu- 
nate victims of rash counsels, is equally to his honor. 
Among his letters are congratulations to Mr. Dillon, of 
Balaghadeerin, on the escape of his brother, Mr. John 
B. Dillon, to America, and fervent thanks from Arch- 
deacon McCarron for the kind interest he had taken in 
the case of Dr. Wm. McCarron, for some time a prisoner 
in Newgate for the same cause. The present writer, 
who sailed from Derry on the 1st of September of that 
year, has especial reason to remember Dr. Maginn's 
friendliness ; for, although personally he did not appear, 
as he should not, in any of the arrangements for that 
escape, some of his kind and courageous clergy were 
the chief promoters of it. Forever cold must be the 
heart that dictates these lines, before it ceases to beat in 
grateful response to the names of Derry and Maginn I 



CHAPTBE VIII. 

DR. MAGINN's .final VISITATION OF HIS DIOCESE — THE PROPOSED 
PROVINCIAL SYNODS AND CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY — DR. MAGINN's 
LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH — GENERAL SORROW EXPRESSED BY 
THE CATHOLIC BODY — HIS FUNERAL — HIS CHARACTER AND GENIUS 
— TRIBUTES TO HIS MEMORY AT HOME AND ABROAD, 

The good news from Eome, in October, '48, of the 
renewed condemnation of the Queen's Colleges, com- 
pensated the patriot Prelates, to some extent, for the 
dismal social prospects of the country. On the 10th of 
October, the annual meeting of the Bishops was held at 
Dublin, but nothing of importance, beyond the reception 
of the Eescripts, and a resolution implicitly to obey 
them, transpired. Drs. MacHale and O'Higgins had not 
yet arrived home, and Dr. Maginn was engaged in the 
annual visitation of his diocese. The party (if we may 
be pardoned the term) Avho had defeated the govern- 
ment, and secured for their course the cordial approba- 
tion of Eome, were represented by Drs. Cantwell and 
McNall}^ It appeared that the favorers of the govern- 
ment plan comprised two Archbishops and seven Bish- 



172 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN, 

ops — one-tiiird of the Hierarchy. One or two of the 
names created great astonishment among the oppug- 
nantSj as they had reason to believe that they were 
strongly on their, and against the other side. 

The satisfaction of the successful appellants to Eome, 
may be imagined. They had countermined, for the 
time, at least, the approaches of British intrigue to the 
Vatican ; they had overcome, and then incorporated, a 
formidable defection in their own Order ; fhey had de- 
feated an empire; they had rescued a nation. Dr. Ma- 
ginn^ on the 9th of Xovember, writes to Dr. McNally: 

" I had not a word from you since the great victory gained over the 
enemies of our faith. I expected to have had a line of congratulation 
from you on the subject. You had, of course, a letter from the good 
Bishop of Ardagh, giving a detailed account of the episcopal corres- 
pondence." 

Dr. Cantwell writes to Dr. Maginn, a few days later: 

^' Never had Prelates a greater triumph or more powerful motives for 
congratulation, than have been afforded to us by the late Rescript. 
The immortal Pius IX. has, in its comprehensiveness and firmness of 
tone, surpassed even himself. It goes farther than we could have at 
all anticipated. It annihilates the power of England ever again to 
enslave our Church, and silences forever the treacherous whisperings 
of any feeble or false member of our body with the enemies of our 
faith and the murderers of our people. The best mode of marking our 
gratitude for this noble act of heroism is, as your Lordship says in your 
favor of the 19 th, to carry into effect, without delay, the recommenda- 
tions of His Holiness." 

To carry into effect the recommendations of the Pon- 
tiff, it was decided to hold Pxovincial Synods of th^ four 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 173 

Provinces, to which was subsequently added the idea 
of the National Synod, afterwards held at Thurles. 
The Archbishop of Cashel proposed, in a circular letter, 
that each Bishop should appoint one Priest, to meet as 
a Committee, collect information, and report on the de- 
tails of the ceremonial to be observed and the business 
to be done. To this Dr. McNally, among others, ob- 
jected its novelty and irregularity ; but Dr. Maginn, 
Dr. Cantwell, and the majority of their friends, gave 
their sanction. Out of the proposed National Synod 
was to spring a more uniform discipline — a more solemn 
observance of canonical regulations, and the great prac- 
tical demonstration of Ireland's unshaken Orthodoxy — 
the Catholic University. 

In the preliminaries of all these grand and beneficent 
designs, Dr. Maginn took the liveliest interest, although 
laboring under the illness of which he soon afterwards 
died. We first hear of this in his letter last quoted, 
(November 9,) : 

" I am jnst after returning," he writes, " from the visitation, some- 
what fatigued ; yet notwithstanding much exertion, very little the 
worse for it. I was very unwell at starting, but daily improved as I 
went along. I confirmed upwards-of six thousand children. This, at 
any rate, is a satisfaction, even should this winter close their or our 
earthly career.''^ 

These strangely prophetic words strike one with awe, 
when we remember, that within two months of their 
date, while the winter still raged along the wild northern 



IT-i LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD 2J:AGES"]Sr. 

coast, the writer lav on his bed of death. On the 28th 
of November he ^vrites from Buncrana, that he has been 
Avorse, and was unable to go to Derrj ^' to lay the foun- 
dation stone of our new school- house." On the 13th of 
January, four days before his decease, he wrote to his 
old schoolfellow and life-long friend, the Bishop of 
Cloo-her, the followino- cheerful and affectionate letter — 
the last, we believe, he ever penned : 

DR. 3IAGI^"^' TO DR. m'xALLT. ^ 

Buncrana, January 13, 1849. 

My Dear Good Lorch — I have just time to drop you a lioe before 
starting for Derry. I am happy to have to inform you that I am 
much better, and ready for a ne^ campaign. I prepared about ten 
days ago to start for Clogher, to have the pleasure of seeing for a 
night and conversing with your Lordship, but was prevented from 
going from an attack of influenza, under which I may say I have 
since labored up till yesterday. I had a letter from Dr. Cantwell last 
night. He is most anxious about a Provincial Synod, but considers it 
better to put it off until after the arrival of Dr. Higgins. The Gov- 
ernment are in advance of us, and considering our means, it will take 
us to move very rapidly, and at the same time very cautiously, to 
overtake thera. 

Dr Cantwell requested me to sound the Primate on the subject of 
an immediate meeting, to put the intrusion on the necessity of having 
a uniform discipline daring the approaching Lent, &c., &c. 

I would much sooner that your Lordship could be induced to cor- 
respond with his Grace on the subject, as it would come better from 
you in every respect. The week after next, I will, if possible, be up 
to see you, and spend a couple of nights. I fondly hope that your 
health is good, and that your extraordinary labors throughout the 
summer have left it unimpaired. 

I had, about ten days ago, a couple of letters from Rome. There 
was nothing important in them. Dr. Cullen was much afraid of 
the assassins, which shows the condition of the Eternal City, when 
even such innocence as Dr. Cullen's could not be safe from the asas- 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 175 

sin's knife. I send, with my most respectful compliments, a purse to 
Miss McNally. 

Wishing your Lordship many happy returns of this holy season, 
nd every blessing, I remain, my dear Lord, ever. 

Faithfully and most affectionately yours, 

t^ Edward Maginn 
The Most Rev. Dr. McNally. 

The handwriting employed is that of his curate, Eev. 
Mr. Devlin, who was his most frequent amanuensis in 
his latter days. The language, of course, is all his own. 
The day or the day after this letter was written, he came 
into Derry, and finding himself worse, he took to his 
bed, in St. Columb's College. On Wednesday, the 17th, 
the physicians in attendance gave up all hope of his 
recovery, and at half-past two o'clock on that day, his 
soul departed to the judgment-seat of God. 

The intelligence of this most unexpected termination 
of a bright career, struck with profound sadness every 
lover of Ireland and every faithful son of the Church 
throughout all the English-speaking regions of the earth. 
The sorrow was deepest at its source — in his own dio- 
cese and province; but it was national, and, in a sense, 
universal as the Church itself. His sudden celebrity, 
the black background of Calvinism against which his 
northern light had shone, the generosity of his nature, 
apparent in all his public as well as private acts, had 
made him an object of love as well as of hope and ex- 
pectation. Ilis still 3^oung age — only 53 : his country 



176 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

had just lost by death, disgust or banishment, the first 

generation of public men which this century had yielded, 

and a great many of the second. She was low — very 

low ; she lay in the dust and refused to be lifted up, 

when he appeared — 

" "Whose thrilling trump could wake the land 
When fraud or danger were at hand !" 

No wonder Ireland mourned for him with the un- 
measured grief of a mother made desolate. In Dublin 
his loss was not less truly deplored than in Derry ; in 
Cork as eloquently as in either. It was a national grief 
which overswept all provincial and diocesan bounda- 
ries. In England and in America also, he had many 
mourners. One of the first of those to condole with his 
bosom friend, Dr. MclSTally, was the venerable Bishop 
of Beverley, whose letter we here give : 

York, Jan. 21, 1849. 
My dear Lord — What most sad and most deplorable intelligence has 
reached me to-day, in the irreparable loss of thei truly illustrious Dr. 
Maginn ! I cannot tell you what a thunderbolt it was to me, and what 
a deep pang it inflicted on my heart. I loved him dearly. I loved 
him for his warm patriotism, and for his bold advocacy of the inde- 
pendence of the Church. Ireland has lost a host in poor Dr Maginn. 
*' Doleo super te,f rater mi I Quojnodo occidit robiistus et perierunt anna 
hellica.''^ Truly may we say the champion of religion has fallen ; his 
fihield is thrown away, and the Irish people, in the time of greatest 
need, are suddenly stripped of his most powerful protection. Truly 
may poor Ireland say, " Sicut mater unicum amatjilium suum^ ita ego 
te diligeham,'''' and to Ireland's people would I say, " Plangent cum 
plajictu, quasi super unigenitumy And this they will do. Pray do 



LIFE OF RIGHT EEV. EDWARD MAGINN 177 

give me some particulars of tliis most lamentable event. My feelings 
will not allow me to say more. My dear Lord, 

Truly and affectionately yours, 

^"^JoiiN Briggs. 
Most Rev. Dr. McNally. 

The funeral ceremonial was solemn as the Church 
requires, and popular as the people's hearts could wish. 
During Thursday and Friday, the citizens of Derry and 
strangers were allowed to see the body as it lay in epis- 
copal state, at the College. On Monday morning it was 
removed to the Cathedral, where the solemn services for 
the dead were performed. For these last melancholy 
details of our story, we must borrow the language of 
the Derry and Dublin newspapers. The Londonderry 
Journal^ in announcing the death, says : 

" A melancholy sensation was produced in this city on Wednesday 
last, by the very unexpected announcement that the Right Rev. Dr. 
Maginn, Roman Catholic Coadjutor of Derry, had expired at 2 o'clock 
in the afternoon of that day, in St. Columb's College here, in which 
he had his town residence, and c which he was patron and founder. 
From what we have learned, he felt himself to be in what he consid- 
ered good health on the previous Saturday, on which day he had ar- 
rived from his usual residence at Buncrana. On the following day he 
was seized with typhus, on which mortification supervened, and which 
terminated fatally. A fortnight or so previously, he had suffered from 
a cold caught in the performance of his duties, and it may be that that 
cold was at the foundation of the disease of which he died." 

The special reporter of the Dublin Freeman^s Jonrnal^ 
describes the Requiem Mass and its concomitants very 
minutely. We follow his account : 

THE INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH. 

At an early hour this morning, the coffin containing the body was 



178 LIFE OF KIGHT REV. EDWARD HAGINN. 

removed from his lordsliip'5 late residence in St. Columb's College, 
fouaded by himself, where his pure spirit had put on immortality, to 
the Catholic Cathedral. 

This was done in compliance with the Welshes of the people. From 
the first moment of liis death, crowds had continued to seek admission, 
to look once more upon that countenance, whose beaming— a mixture 
in life of earth's innocence and Heaven's hope — can never be forgot- 
ten by any one who ever beheld it. To make room for others, each 
party in its turn was compelled to take a hurried farewell. The wish 
to see even his coffin once again became, from this hasty separation, 
so universal, that it could not be refused. The Cathedral was hung in 
mourning. A sable veil covered the fronts of the galleries, from the 
wall at the right of the altar to the wall at the left. The pulpit, the 
altar and tiie tabernacle were all similarly clothed in weeds of woe. 

THE COFFIN. 

The coffin was three-fold ; the interior, which covered the remains 
of the lamented Bishop, was encased in a massive one of lead, and 
that was covered with a beautiful outer-coffin of the purest mahogany, 
in its natural color, with heavy mountings of solid brass. It rested 
on a plain catafalque placed in the choir in front of the high altar. 
From each corner rose a white plume, with one additional at the head 
cf the coffin. On the catafalque, to the left of the coffin, was placed 
the crozier, at the head the mitre, and upon it was lying the pectoral 
episcopal cross of massive and solid gold. There were three lighted 
tapers on each side. The inscription was peculiarly simple. Cut on 
a plate of thick brass were merely the name, the place for which he 
was bishop, Orthosia ; the place for which he was apostolic adminis- 
trator, Derry ; the day on which he died, the 17th January, 184:9 ; 
the number of years he was a bishop, three ; and his age, 53 3'ears. 

THE OFFICE AND HIGH MASS, 

Shortly after eleven o'clock the obsequies commenced. Besides a 
very crowded attendance of the laity, I noticed present on the solemn 
and impressive occasion, the most Rev. Dr. MclSTrdly, bishop of Clo- 
gher ; his lordship's chaplain, Rev. James McDonnell, C.C. Clogher ; 
Rev. Charles Boyle, P.P., Skerries, diocese of Dublin ; Rev. Edward 
McBride, CO., Derry ; Rev. Hugh Nugent, administrator, D/rry ; 
Rev. Francis Kelly, P.P., Fahan ; Rev, John Dougherty,;P.P., Bana- 
gher ; Rev. William McLaughlin, P.P., Iskahane ; Rev. M. O'Kane, P.P., 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 179 

Omagh ; Rev. James M'Aleer, P.P., Burt ; Rev. Wm. Browne, P.P., 
Strabane ; Rev, James McDonagh, P. P., Comber ; Rev. Charles Flan- 
agan, P.P., Coleraine ; Rev. F. McHugh, P.P., Drumquin ; Rev. Geo. 
O'Dougherty, P.P., Moville ; Rev. John McLoughlin, C.C., Derry ; 
Rev. Edward O'Dongherty, P.P., Magilligan, Rev. John McCullagh 
P.P., Terminamongan ; Rev. M. McGlinchy, P.P., Urney ; Rev. Mr. 
McNnlty, Rev. W. Connolly, CO., Urney ; Rev. Charles McCrossan, 
C.C, Strabane 5 Rev. Wm. Hegarty, C.C., Buncrana 5 Rev. James 
O'Dougherty, P.P., Errigle ; Rev. Michael Rogers, C.C, Waterside ; 
Rev. Mr. Campbell, President of St. Columb's College ; Yery Rev. 
Archdeacon McCarron, Rev. James Stephens, P.P., All Saints, diocese 
of Raphoe ; the Yery Rev. Mr. McCafferty, P.P., Carndonagh, and 
Dean of the diocese'; Rev. P. McFeeley, P.P , Dungiven ; Rev. Ber- 
nard Magill, C.C, Carndonagh ; and the Rev. Wm. O'Donnell, C.C, 
Clonman}^. 

■ The solemn, beautiful and affecting ceremonies of the office and 
High Mass for the dead have been so frequently described in the Free- 
man's Journal, that I do not consider it necessary to repeat here that 
description. 

Those who took part in thft High Mass were the Most Rev. Dr. 
McXally, as pojitifex assistens, the Rev. John McLaughlin as High- 
Priest, the Rev. James Stephens as deacon, the Rev. John McCullagh 
as sub-deacon, and the Rev. Mr. Campbell as master of ceremonies. 

Never did I witness the celebration of the beautiful ceremonies of 
the Catholic Church on any occasion when there was more of that 
soul of deep feeling which should alwa3's give life to the outward 
forms. 

THE SERMON. 

At the close of the Mass a sermon of great power, both in the elo- 
quence of its thought and the (doquence of its language, was preached 
by the Yery Rev. Archdeacon McCarron. I will not attempt any out- 
line of it, as I hope soon to have a corrected copy of it for publication 
in the Freeman.. It produced an extraoi'dinary sensation on the pre- 
disposed multitude he addressed. On the preuclier turning round to 
the coffin, and bidding farewell to the remains of their cherished 
Bishop in terms of intense devotion and poignant sori'ow, he was 
joined b}' the congregation in a cry of heart-rending anguish, such as 
I had never till tlien heard. There was not, I believe, in tliat crowded 



180 LIFE OF EIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN 

•assembly of the laity and clergy, a single heart unmoved — a single 
eye without tears. 

LAST NIGHT IN DERRY. 

This is the last night the remains of him whom the people had 
fondly hoped to possess as their pride, their honor and their protec- 
tion for many a year, are to be in Derry. To-morrow his bereaved 
flock mnst give up even that ; they feel this. All this eyening, and 
even now at a late hour in the night, they are passing in crowds to 
and from tlie Cathedral. 

The account of the procession to Innishowen, we take 
from the Londonderry Journal : 

THE FUNEEAL. 

Early on yesterday morning people began to repair to the chapel, 
from which, it had been arranged, the funeral procession was to set 
out about eight o'clock. The assemblage, not only there, but in the 
adjoining streets, through which the procession had to pass, especially 
Bishop-street, both outside and inside the gate, was immense ; and we 
think we may safely say that never before was there beheld in Derry 
a procession so very vast, so respectable, and in which persons of all 
creeds were so thoroughly blended, as the one which was formed to 
express esteem for the virtues of Dr. Maginn, and do reverence to his 
memory. Preceding the hearse, which was drawn by four horses in 
gable trappings, came the clergy of the diocese ; and it was followed 
by two closed carriages, in one of which were the venerable mother 
of the deceased and his much-respected sisters, Miss Maginn and Mrs. 
Devlin, and in the other his two nieces, daughters of Mrs. Devlin. 
Next came on foot, and dressed in white robes, the Convent scholars ; 
then the students of St. Columb's College, and after them the members 
of -the Benevolent Societ}^ of whom the late Bishop was a generous 
patron. These bodies were followed by a number of carriages, among 
which we recognized those of the Hon. and Right Rev. Dr. Ponsonby, 
Bishop of Derry ; the Very Rev. Dean Gough, and Sir Robert A. Fer- 
guson, Bart., M. P. There were at least one hundred and thirty vehi- 
cles, including open barouches, gigs and cars, in the line of the pro- 
cession, which were followed by a considerable number of horsemen, 
and the large mass of pedestrians brought up the rear. "We are in- 



LIFE OF EIGHT KEY. EDWAKD MAGINN. 181 

clined to say that the whole of the Episcopalian and Presbyterian 
ministers of the city were present ; also the Rev. Mr. Dill, late of 
Knowhead, and among the medical gentlemen we observed Dr. Rogan, 
Dr. Skipton, Dr. Morton, Dr. Hamilton, Dr. White, Dr. McLaughlin, 
Dr. Hay, Dr. Roe, Dr. Hairs, Dr. Thomson. Of geotlemen in offices 
connected with the city there were His Worship the Mayor, Aldermen 
Skipton, Bond, Baird, Leathem and Foster ; Councillors John Allen, 
Casey, Leathem and Coppin ; Captain Ramsay, Government Emigra- 
tion Agent ; Colonel Longhead, American Consul 5 and among other 
gentlemen whom we cannot particularize, there were John Dysart, 
Andrew A. Watt, WilHam Moore, of Molennan, George Hay, Thomas 
Knox, B. McCorkell, J. K. McClintock, Hampstead Hall ; Samuel 
Leathem, Burt; James Thompson, D. Porter, Samuel Crawford, Geo. 
Franks, jun. ; James Glenn, Robert Foster, James Graham, David 
Hamilton, John Quinn, James McClelland, James Carson, Benjamin 
Greer, Esqrs., &c., &c. 

The procession moved down Bishop-street, through the Diamond, 
down Butcher street. Magazine street, through Ship-quay gate, and on 
to the Strand-road. As it went on its way to Buncrana, and after be- 
ing about three miles from the city, it received a constant succession 
of reinforcements, particularly of persons on horseback. 

A great number of Innishowen men, on horseback, joined the pro- 
cession at Burnfoot, Fahan, and several other points of junction along 
the line. Great numbers of the poor were congregated in the main- 
street of Buncrana ; and, as the hearse passed the road leading down 
to the late Bishop's residence, lamentations loud and deep were heard 
from the multitude on all sides. On arriving at Cock-hill chapel, the 
corpse was removed into the center of the building, where the usual 
office of the dead was performed by the Right Rev. Dr. MclSTally, 
Bishop of Clogher, and the numerous priests present. Dr. McNally 
was the intimate friend of the deceased Bishop, and his unremitting 
attention during the obsequies, was the theme of general observation. 
The offering on the occasion amounted, it is said, to upwards of £100, 
and was much larger than on any former occasion. On approaching 
Buncrana, tlv*. Coast Guard hoisted the Union Jack of their statioii 
half mast high, in token of the esteem in which he had been held by 
them. 

The Dablin correspondent's account of the interment 
is given in these words: 



182 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

THE INTERMENT. 

As the procession approaclied Buncrana, and the grateful people to 
whom he ministered as parish priest for upwards of twenty years came 
forth — not to welcome him in the pride of their hearts, as they were 
wont to do — but in unutterable sorrow to receive all that death had 
left them of the great man who had made the name of their parish 
known as far as his own fame had spread, no words could describe their 
visible emotion. 

At every path leading to the public road, multitudes of men and 
women, of the old and of the young, were assembled. All who were 
able to walk, joined in the mournful procession, and the old and infirm 
struggled to get to some eminence to have one last look at that hearse 
which was bearing his remains, and when it was disappearing from 
their view fearfully wild and convulsive were their cries and their 
heartrending last farewells ; but the great scene which unnerved every 
one in the procession took place when the hearse reached the road leading 
off to his lordship's late residence, and an immense multitude crowded 
in view of his favorite cottage raised the affecting Irish caonae, so well 
calculated to express the wild excess of sorrow of which the Irish peo- 
ple are capable. Ever and anon these wild strains, heard above the 
strong gale which was then blowing, fell in thrilling sadness on the 
ears of those who were in the front of the procession. This melancholy 
expression of heartrending sorrow was continued through the towa 
of Buncrana and on the graveyard. 

The procession reached Cockhill chapel at a quarter past one o'clock, 
P.M. The funeral obsequies were read by the Very Rev. P. O'Loghlin, 
V.G., now vicar-capitular of the diocese, assisted by the Most Rev. Dr. 
M'Nally. 

No language can describe the voice of lamentation which arose from 
the assembled thousands when the cofiSn was placed in the family vault. 
The last resting-place of Dr. Maginn's remains is twelve feet long, and 
eight feet broad, and six deep. The floor is beautifully flagged. The 
tomb is well sheltered. Behind it are the lofty and romantic hills of 
ianishowen ; before it are the beautiful Swilly and the setting sun. 

The closing scene was most affecting. The venerable mother of the 
bishop — pressed down with years, and now bending and tottering be- 
neath the weight of unspeakable sorrow — entered the vault to bid fare- 
well to the remains of her honored son. The tears of such a parent 
over such a son ! 



LIFE OF EIGHT EEV. EDWARD MAGINN. 183 

The venerable mourner here alluded to, was in her 
ninety-second year. She did not long survive this last 
crushing blow ; she sleeps with her beloved son, in the 
same family vault. His favorite sister, Bridget, the 
companion of his last years, came to Canada to visit 
another sister, Mrs. O'Meara, previously mentioned. 
She died at Montreal, in the summer of 1856. 
Other near connexions of the Bishop still live in the 
United States and in Ireland. From Miss Maginn and 
his other American connexions, as we said in the Intro- 
duction, we received the authentic documents upon 
which this memoir is founded. 

A few words on the character and genius of Dr. Ma- 
ginn, will not be thought superfluous from one thus 
unexpectedly, but not unwillingly, made his Biographer. 

We have endeavored to present him to the reader as 
he appears to us — a patriot, high-spirited, generous, en- 
ergetic, indefatigable ; a Priest and Bishop, vigilant, 
hospitable, charitable, childlike in his intercourse, pious, 
just, forgiving, a lover of the poor, an uncompromising 
enemy of local oppression and lordly pride ; as an au- 
thor, we may more properly enlarge on the qualities by 
which he was distinguished. His reputation in this 
way, rests almost solely on the letters to be found in the 
Appendix. They are evidently thrown off in consider- 
able haste, though we have found one, and sometimes 
two, drafts of his chief pieces among his papers. Both 



184 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

the Engiish and the Latin correspondence (the latter of 
which it has not been thought best to translate) are 
marked by great fullness of thought and expression. It 
is a mind overflowing — the genuine outpouring of a 
deep and living stream. The writer shows his Celtic 
characteristics throughout, whether addressing Cardinal 
Fransoni or Lord Stanley, whether writing on a local 
interest to a Poor Law Guardian, or arraigning a Lord 
Lieutenant for national offences. He is always in earn- 
est, always hearty, always straightforward ; he has the 
faults, too, of his school and time in Ireland ; he is often 
redundant, sometimes over-obsequious in his address to 
persons in high places ; too impetuous, perhaps, in the 
charge, and too informal in the proof His earlier style 
is often overrun with expletives ; but as he continued 
to write, he became clearer and terser — more sinewy 
and less flabby. The English speech is thought by 
many to be too cold and guarded for the Irish mind, 
but the careful readers of Burke and Grattan wdll hardly 
subscribe to that opinion. Certainly the language of 
Shakspeare, Jeremy Taylor and Walter Scott, cannot 
be thought defective in the resources of a picturesque 
and imaginative diction. The genius of that language 
has been little studied in Irish ecclesiastical seminaries, 
and the result is seen in many of the late writers among 
the Clergy. We see strength running riot, inspiration 
degrading itself into vituperation, and the living sense 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 185 

smothered under rank overgrowth of superfluous phrase- 
ology. Dr. Maginn had almost wholly freed himself 
from these vicious and enervating habits of expression 
towards the end of his days ; and had he been spared 
to complete the term allotted to us by the Psalmist, his 
literary reputation would, we think, have rested on 
wider and deeper foundations than we can now claim 
for it. 

The true great work of Dr. Maginn is, the Irish 
Church. To that work he has contributed as largely as 
any man of his time in the episcopacy. He upheld the 
sinking spirit of the Isle in the darkest tiour of her 
modern misfortunes. He helped to defeat her Imperial 
oppressors in the day of their loudest exultation over 
her; and the rulers against whom he and his friends 
contended, we must remember, were men not easily 
baulked nor easily beaten. Yet beaten on Irish ground 
they have been, ever since the famine. The ruins they 
left have risen up and taken shape, the grave has given 
back its dead, the blasted tree has put forth fruit-bearing 
branches which cover the face of the land. As certainly 
as England has conquered Ireland materially, Ireland 
is conquering England religiously. Nor is that con- 
quest limited to Ireland ; the garrisons of the foith con- 
gregate wherever the British flag flies ; it has its Car- 
dinal in Westminster, its Bishops in Scotland, in North 
America, in Sidney, in Bombay, in Ceylon, in Corfu. 



186 LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINN. 

The Irish Church, has proved itself stronger than the 
Imperial state in the domain of Conscience, and cold 
must be that Christian's heart who can read without 
tears of admiration the record of any portion of such a 
struggle. 

It is in his connection with that heroic, world-wide 
contest, we have most loved to contemplate the character 
of our illustrious subject, and as one of its foremost 
figures we now present him to the pious remembrance 
of every reader of this little Book !^ 



* It may be proper here to mention that in January, 1849, the fol- 
lowing advertisement appeared in the Dublin Freemari's Journal^ of 
which Mr. McDevitt was one of the Editors : 

THE LATE DR. MAGINK 

PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION, A MEMOIR OF THE LATE MOST REV. DR. 
MAGINN, BY N. m'dEVITT, ESQ. 

The Memoir will comprise the views of this great Irishman and 
gifted Bishop on the Literar}^, Social, Political and Religious Questions 
of his time. 

It will also contain his Lordship's Letters, published and unpub- 
lished, and in short all the emanations of his great mind, which it is 
now possible to collect. 

His Correspondence with the Hol}^ See on the important subjects 
which agitated Catholic Ireland during his Episcopate, possesses great 
strength. 

The relatives of the illustrious Prelate have kindly placed all his pa- 
pers at the disposal of the writer ; and his Lordship's most intimate 
friends — some of them the leading intellects of the day — have volun- 
teered to supply most valuable facts, suggestions and anecdotes, 

The work is undertaken with the view of making permanent in the 
country the brilliant and guiding light of that splendid mind, over 
whose premature departure the church and the country of the illus- 



TJFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 187 

A LAMENT FOR THE LATE RIGHT REV. DR. MAGIJfJf. 

BY. W. KENEALY. 

Weep, Eria, weep — weep, from Malin to Cape Clear ! 

Come young, and old, and beautiful, come gather round the bier ! 

Weep, weep in depth of bitterness — not in a passing sigh — 

Weep earnestly and loudly for the spirit that's on High ! 

Weep, weep ye for your mightiest, your country's hope and pride, 

Too good, too pure, too holy, in this dark world to bide ; 

Kain, rain your tears like waves across the briny deep, 

Our loved is dead ! our hope is gone ! — oh, weep, weep, weep I 

ii: 
His glory is in Heaven high, he needs no praise on earth, 
The angels and the seraphim are reveling in mirth — 
Ah ! if they'd known the sorrow that attends us here below, 
They never would have stricken us with such a cruel blow. 
In the cold, cold clay he'll soon be wrapt, the purest of the pure, 
The Genius of a brilliant age ! and we left to endure — 
Oh, God I though it should anger thee to bring him from that keep, 
We would, but cannot do it — oh ! weep, weep, weep ! 

III. 
His presence was as dear to us as sight unto the blind ! — 
A brilliant and a holy light shone from his heaven-lit mind. 
The brightness hath all ended in the dark and silent grave, 
As sunbeam on the waters blue, lost in the distant wave— 
The sanctity is left behind, a pure, celestial gem, 
Whose sparkling light will guide us to a heavenly diadem ! 
Oh ! could we sow 'neath such a sun, what beauteous fruit we'd reap •, 
He showed the wa}" — he's dead to-day — oh ! weep, weep, weep ! 

trious deceased have mourned in such deep, universal and heartfelt 
sorrow. 

]Sr. B. — All communications on the subject are to be addressed to 12, 
Russell street, Dublin. 

Mr. McDevitt unfortunately died before liaving put pen to paper, 
towards the Memoir, so far as we can learn. The documents collected 
for him, returned at his death, and brouglit by Miss Magiun to Uon- 
treal, were those committed to us. 



188 LIFE OF EIGHT PwEV. EDWARD MAGINN, 



We thought he was cot cl^'ing — we were hopeful to the last, 
So calmly from its teuement his holy spirit passed — 
We looked into his face again — we could not think the worst, 
Ah ! false as fleeting shadows were the hopes we fondly nursed ! 
With bursting hearts we knelt around, but oh ! we could not pray. 
For all our thoughts, and hopes and love, were fixed in that cold clay, 
Ah ! ruthless Death, why leave our star a pale, dull, funeral heap 1 
Oh, God I that it should come to this— oh, weep, weep, weep I 

Alas ! to think those beauteous eyes have grown forever dim, 
That at the poor's dark misery in briny tears would swim I — 
To think those lips will never more a holy blessing speak, 
Is"or utter forth a sweet advice in accents mild and meek I — 
To see no more the smile that played like a sunbeam on a lake ; 
Holy Virgin I to think of all. ten thousand hearts would break ! 
We're left alone — we're left alone, to climb a rugged steep — 
Ko star to guide our weary path — oh I weep, weep, weep ! 

VI. 

His silken hair — his lustrous eye — "tis hard to think they're clay— ^ 

'Tis harder still to think with him this lone and dreary day ! 

Good Heaven I sure he is not dead — no, no it cannot be, 

The Saint*- i whom our anxious eye hath always longed to see I — 

T'll not believe — 111 not believe he'd leave us here alone, 

Like wand'rers in a desert wild, with thorny shrubs o'ergrown ? 

Oh I why is all around us darkl — why doth our heart's-blood creep ! 

Alas he's dead — too true — too true — oh ! weep, weep, weep ! 

VII. 

There's dew upon the hearth-stone — deep sadness on the brow — 

Each heart is seared and cheerless as a lonely winter bough — 

The eye hath lost its wonted fire — the children cease to play — 

The raven jocks, that glistened fair, one night hath t..rned them grey. 

Oh ! life is death to all who knew our glory and our pride, 

The saddest thoughts will joyfal be, down Time's unebbing tide ! 

The grave will be a welcome thing — no dark and fearful leap. 

For then we'll meet our loved again — oh I weep, weep, weep ! 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGIKN. 189 



How we loved him — how we loved him, 'tis in vain to tell ; 
Heaven alone we prized above him — earth not half as well— 
There's deep, deep grief, in woman's wail, when fitful as the sea — 
There's deeper grief in silent thought, on lowly bended knee f 
But what are all to manhood's tears, fast streaming from his eyes, 
Like torrents from the mountains wild, when wrapt in low'ring skies, 
And silent thought, and manhood's tears, and wailing wild and deep, 
Have shown how we have loved him — still weep, weep, weep ! 

IX, 

"Weep ye, weep ye, for your patriot Saint — the pious and the brave, 
His life-blood he'd have freely shed, his dear old land to save—* 
The glorious green he would unfold — he had no childish fears, 
A pleasant dream it was to him — a host of Irish spears I — 
He's low to-day — he's low to-day — his narrow home is made^ 
Where S willy's sullen waters roll, beneath the mountains' shade ! — 
Our country's wrongs had rent his heart — he knew, and felt too deep, 
Oh ! what is earth without him now ! — oh ! weep, weep, weep ! 



All nature will be smiling on his drear and lonely tomb, 

The brightest sunbeams there will fall, its verdure to illume ! 

The softest dews of heaven will descend upon his breast ! 

The waves will roll more peacefully, lest they should break his rest ; 

Their gentle fall upon the strand will be the mourner's sigh, 

The little stars, his watchers lone — his canopy the sky — 

And sure the winds will gently blow — they dare not wildly sweep 

Above the heart that's cold — oh ! weep, weep; weep ! 

XI. 

The birds are warbling in the trees — the day is clear and calm — 

The air is hushed in thoughtfulnass — the shrubs are breathing balm, 

But what is nature's loveliness to light the soul's deep gloom. 

Our loved is gone — forever gone — down to the silent tomb I 

Good God ! the very thought is more than our bursting hearts can 

bear — • 
Oh ! can our hearts be comforted 1 — yes, in our long, long sleep, 
But ever till that blessed time — oh I weep, weep, weep ! 



190 LIFE OF RIGHT KEY. EDWARD MAGINK. 

XII, 

Weep, weep him through the Island's length, from Malin to Cape 

Clear, 
From Ireland's Eye to dark Glen Saul, rain, rain the bitter tear; 
The Forest Oak is stricken down — come, gather all around — 
Oh ! softly tread — oh ! softly tread — you walk on holy ground — 
There, there he's v/rapt in mourning deep, like sunbeam in a cloud, 
Then gather round in sorrow wild, and wail him long and loud ! 
One last fond look — one bursting shriek of anguish wild and deep— 
The eye is dim — all's dark, all's dark — oh ! weep, weep, weep ! 



TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE ET. EEV. DR. MAGmH. 

BY MRS. M. A. SADLIEE. 

" If it be sad to speak of treasures gone, 
Of sainted genius called too soon away ; 
Of liglit from this world taken, while it shone 

Yet kindling onward to the perfect day ; 
How shall our griefs, if these things mournful be, 

Flow forth, oh ! thou of many gifts, for thee.''— FdicU Hsmans 

A star hath vanished from our nether sphere, 

A glory from our darksome earth is fled ; 
Our grief is half astonishment — half awe, 

And all the mourning soul is filled with dread. 
O strange it seems that such as he should die — 

Die to that world whose darkness he illumined — 
Die with his glorious genius half revealed. 

Oh earth ! — oh man ! — how darkly are ye doomed ! 

Weep, Erin, weep. One other blow is struck j 

A link is added to thy chain of woe. 
A wreath of gloomiest cypress swift entwine 

For him, thy patriot-prelate, now laid low. 
For thee he stept from forth seclusicn's shade, 

And reared his towering mind in tny defence, 



LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 19JL 

Till even thy foul maligners back recoiled ; 
Weep for the trusty champion taken hence. 

And thou, our holiest Mother, Church of God I 

Deplore the stately column rent away 1 
Mourn genius, learning, piety and zeal — 

Assemblage rare in " tenement of clay." 
Thine was the charity that warmed his heart, 

And thine the faith sublime which filled his soul. 
Meet son of such Mother — ^he his dead ; 

What now can thy maternal heart console ! 

What though thy circling arm him still enfold ? 

Where stands his radiant soul before the throne, 
'Mid thy triumphant warriors, brightly crowned — 

Yet mournest thou the light from this world gone. 
Thou sorrowest for thy children thus bereaved — 

The bright example from our view removed, 
A radiance from this world of sin withdrawn — 

So mourns thy mother— oh ! thou most beloved ! 

For thee, my country ! raise thy sorrowing eyes 

To those far regions, where he '^ lives and reigns,'' 
Believe that still he loves and serves thee there — 

Prays for thy weal — compassionates thy pains. 
Though stript of this world's wealth, thou still art rich — 

Rich in the saints thou daily givest to heaven— 
Rich in the heritage of thine old faith. 

Purely divine, and free from early leaven ! 

From forth thy hills and vales, how many a star 

Hath shone upon the darkness of the earth — 
Guiding the nations with the light of faith — 

A blessing to the land that gave them birth ! 
Thou art not poor, loved island of our sires ; 

Rich in thy children we behold thee stand ; 
Hadst thou but borne a Doyle and a Maginn, 

The world would deem thee rich, mine honored land I 

Montreal, Feb. 19th, 1849. 



192 LIFE OF RIGHT REV. EDWARD MAGINN. 

" MEMENTO MORI." 

{From the New York Nation, Feb. 17, 1849.) 
By the letter of a Derry correspondent, the friends of Ireland in 
America will be informed of the particulars of the new national calam- 
ity which has befallen that island, in the death of the Catholic Bishop 
of Derry— the Rt. Rev. Dr. Maginn. 

At any time this would have been a sad and heavy loss to a struggling 
country, necessarily unfavorable to the ripe development of great char- 
acters. If last year our politics had prospered, and, in the midst of 
jubilee, this news had reached the Irish capital, 

" How would the triumpli of our ranks 
Be dashed with grief!" 

But, as it is, when patriotism is felony, and public virtue is circum- 
vented and spirited away by jealous and arbitrary power, Ireland could 
far, far less afford this loss. Safe in the dignity of his office, Dr. Maginn 
might have made the sanctuary in which he ministered the nursery of 
a wiser and more fortunate struggle than that of '48. By the force of 
his character, and that spell of sincerity which was the charm of his 
style and the secret of his fame, he might have attracted and reinvigor- 
ated the sinking hearts of his people, and replenished their courage out 
of the abund^-ince of his own. 

Then, also, if longer life had been allotted him, he might have added 
a finished reputation to the few we have in our recent history. Our 
monuments for many years are a mournful multitude of brokea columns 
and unfinished cenotaph?. One more, alas, is added to the number, 
and this shaft has been broken abruptly off at the very hour its support 
was most needed in the world. 

The public services of Dr. Maginn to his own country need scarcely 
be repeated here. All who take an interest in Ireland remember them. 
He was the earliest and most ardent friend of the union of parties. He 
was utterly opposed to the antiquated folly of petitioning England. 
He was a believer in the right of nations to resort to arms for the de- 
fence, or assertion of their just claims, and if banners had appeared last 
year in the summer air over the fields of Ireland, his benediction would 
have hailed them as they rose. The utter vanishing of all our brave 
prospects, beyon^j. a doubt, weighed on his enthusiastic spirit, and, 
perhaps, induced that fever of mind and body, which has ended in his 
death. 



LIFE OF RIGHT KEV. EDWARD MAG-INX. 193 

Born in Ulster, nursed up in the native region of religious conten 
tion, the trials of his creed hardened, but never darkened, his intellect. 
He was equally free from bigotry and compromise. That he had in- 
fluence enough last year to prevent the usual partizan tomfooleries of 
both denominations in the city of Derry, is the best proof of his in- 
fluence, and the good uses he made of it. May his successors be as 
successful in the same work 

If we dared to mingle private sorrow with the grief of our race, we 
would be bound, peculiarly, to regret his loss and reverence his memory. 
In days of danger and calamity, we had reason to be grateful to this 
great man, for timely aid and warning. Before that time we had re- 
spected and honored him ; since then, a not unnatural personal grati- 
tude mingled with our estimate of his character. We had hoped some 
day or other to render to the living the thanks that are now turned 
into a lament. Fondly, we thought, we may go a pilgrimage over the 
grey hills of lake-bound Innishowen, to repay the obligation we owe, 
and to acquit the debt of gratitude. But in that wild peninsula, where 
once before the last dreaded chief of a broken confederacy met a sudden 
death, we will find hereafter, if not his home, his tomb, and no more 
fervent prayer than ours, and no more reverend step, shall be about 
his grave from this till then. May the soul of the good Bishop rest in 
peace ! 



APPENDIX. 

THE DEVON COMMISSION 

The Rev, Edward Maginn sworn and examined. 
Where do you reside ? I am parish priest of Bun- 
crana and the union of Fahans and Dysertigney, in the 
county of Donegal. 

What is the extent of the district with which you are 
acquainted ? Including the three parishes, about 66,000 
or 67,000 acres. 

What is the general description of the district ; is it 
tillage, or is a large portion of it mountain ? With re- 
spect to the portion of mountain and tillage in Upper 
Fahans and Dysertigney I cannot say with certainty. 
With respect to Lower Fahans I can state pretty accu- 
rately the quantity of improvable ground. The parish, 
including two extra parochial places, comprises about 
26,000 acres. As far as I recollect, it i^ a long time 
since I received these documents from one of the gov- 
ernment surveyors ; at that time there were about 4,000 
or 5,000 acres in a state of cultivation ; about 12,000 
acres that could bo improved ; and the remainder con- 



196 APPENDIX. 

sisted of rocks and mountains of a certain elevation, 
which rendered them unprofitable and unimprovable. 

Have there been as manv as twelve thousand acres 
improved since you obtained that information? No; I 
stated there were about four thousand in a state of cul- 
tivation. Since that time about one thousand or one 
thousand five hundred acres may have been brought in 
from pasture ground. 

Is that district very populous ? Some portions of the 
district are populous and densely inhabited, but a cer- 
tain portion of the district is uninhabited. 

Does the district afford, in your opinion, opportunities 
for extensive and remunerative improvements? Yes; 
I think most extensive and profitable improvements can 
be made in the country. 

Is the state of agriculture improving or otherwise, 
and in what particulars? Yes, I do think that it is im- 
proving. The nature of the times has forced the people 
to extend their farms np the ascent of the monntain, 
and to take in some of the land to meet the demands 
upon them ; they have done more in that way in the 
last four or five years than in the ten years before. 

What are the manures chiefly used ? In localities 
bordering upon the sea shore they use sand, and what 
they call sea- weed or wrack. They also use animal 
manure in the mountains, mixed with bog. 

Are there any farming societies or agricultural schools 
in the district, and what has been their effect ? There 
has been a branch farming society established in con- 
nexion with the poor-law union, a short time ago ; as 
yet it has not had any effect ; we have got an agricultu- 



APPENDIX. 197 

ral school in embryo, and I think it can be turned to 
very good account in that neighborhood. On certain 
conditions Captain Kennedy has made us a present of 
three and a half acres of lan^lj and I have got a teacher 
there who gives lectures on agriculture. 

Has it had much effect yet ? No, they have scarcely 
tried the effects, but it is training the youth and giving 
them knowledge of the different kinds of soil ; but the 
teacher has not yet been trained in Dublin. 

What is the more usual size of tillage farms, and the 
.mode of culture in that district ? It is impossible to an- 
swer that question. The small villages stretch up along- 
side the mountain, and there may be one thousand acres 
riot worth more than 8d. an acre. I would say on an 
average about four acres, or from that to six acres ara- 
ble, was the size. It would be more accurate for me to 
state the rental, I should say from about six to ten 
pounds. 

Are there many farms held in rundale, or in common, 
in the district ? They are getting out of the sj^stem at 
present, but there are still a good many held in that 
way ; there are some villages where it exists. 

What is the general condition of the persons holding 
in that state? Are they better or worse off than their 
neighbors ? I think they are worse off; at least the 
system of rundale causes a great deal of confusion in 
the country. 

In what manner is the rent fixed ; is it by private 
contract, by proposal, or by valuation? I think I 
should say that there is no such thing as a contract at 
all. It is imposed ; it is a sum imposed by the landlord 



198 APPENDIX. 

or agent ; it has not the nature of a contract by any 
means. There may be exceptions, but this is the gen- 
eral rule. 

Are valuators usually employed ? Yes, they employ 
valuators. Formerly there were valuators employed 
who were persons of knowledge, and understood the 
country, such as Mr. Lythgowe and Mr. Dysart, who 
were farmers themselves; latterly they have selected 
individuals who know very little about the general na- 
ture of the country, or sought persons who lived in 
towns, who were surveyors and not valuators. I beg to 
explain as to this answer, that this I know from the very 
great injustice done to many individuals in the district 
by those persons not understanding sufhciently how to 
cut up the land. They cut up the land, and gave the 
best of it to two or three individuals, and banished the 
rest up to the mountain. 

Was that while dividing the farms ? Yes, while val- 
uing and dividing the farms. I think frequently the 
worst farm pays the highest rent. 

What is the usual rent of average land of different 
qualities? It varies very much throughout the country. 
The value of it depends very much on the season ; if 
the season is good, they can calculate upon a tolerable 
crop ; if the season is bad, the crop is exceedingly bad. 
The land is wet, and there is a constant flow of water 
from the hills upon the lands which lie on the sides of 
the mountain, and if the season is a bad one, the crop 
is generally a failure. I think the rent would be from 
2Z. 105. to 255. the Cunningham acre, for what is called 
crofting ground. I beg to submit that this is the best 
quality of land in that part of the country. 



APPENDIX. 199 

Are you aware what proportion this bears to the 
poor-law valuation ? With respect to the poor-law val- 
uation, I consider it no criterion ; the reason is that I 
know the person very well, and I know from the way 
in which he valued my own house and the property 
throughout the country, that it is not to be depended 
upon. He would merely stand upon a hill and look at 
the lands of a village, and afterwards take the rental ; 
it is generally the rental he adopted as the rule ; he 
could in such a way have valued a whole parish in a 
day, if he got to the top of a high mountain. 

With respect to the government valuation, have you 
ascertained the proportion the rent Dears to it? I beg 
to remark that I had not the government valuation at 
time ; it was afterwards I got it ; and we took an ac- 
count of the rental of the towns, not as they are classi- 
fied in the government valuation, but merely as they 
are classified in my own parish book. The average in 
Lower Fahan, I should say, is about forty per cent. 
higher than the government valuation, and in some 
cases nearly one hundred per cent, higher, and even 
more than that. 

Are those particular cases, where there are any houses 
or recent improvements to make that difference? With 
respect to recent improvements, in one case the people 
went up to the side of the mountain in the townland of 
Meenamallaghan, and cultivated the land ; they took 
that at 20L The landlord's son went up the hill and 
looked down at the improvements they had made, and 
raised them to 42Z., and served them with ejectments to 
leave the places, or come up with him to the 42Z. 



200 APPENDIX. 

Was lie a middleman or a proprietor in fee ? A mid 

dleman. 

Have you an}^ means of knowing what the govern- 
ment valuation of that townland was? 19?. 65. ; and as 
I was informed it was offered for 91 before the people 
went there. 

Is it long since the people commenced those improve- 
ments ? I think about thirty years ago. 

Are 3^ou able to state how long they had had the be- 
nefit of their improvements at the lower rent ? About 
twenty to twenty-one years at that time. 

How long is it since the rent was raised from 20?. to 
421 From seven to nine years ago ? I cannot say with 
accuracv. 

How soon after it becomes due is the rent usually 
called for ? We have so many landlords, and the cus- 
toms vary so much, it is hardly possible to say. 

Is there any custom in the country in reference to the 
receipt of rent ? A great deal depends upon the feeling 
of the landlord. A great many demand it immediately 
after it is due. I should say some demand the Xovem- 
ber rent on the 1st of Februarj^, and others sooner than 
that ; some even get the rent before it is due, at least 
they send for it on the very day, that is merely by way 
of accommodation ; the principal proprietors in the place 
do not call for the rent so soon. I think about the 
month of April and about the month of October are the 
usual times. 

Is there any payment of rent by bill in the district 
with which you are acquainted? jSTothing of the kind 
that I know of 

Does the tenant depend upon the loan fund or local 



APPENDIX. 201 

usurers for assistance in paying his rent ? With respect 
to the loan fund in Upper Fahan, I believe there is a 
great deal doing in that way, though it is a great injury 
to the country. The persons who become security for 
those poor people are publicans or innkeepers, or keep 
shebeen houses along the way, and they oblige the per- 
sons, as I am informed, to drink so much, and if they 
do not drink, they will not secure them again ; they lose 
a great deal of time in going into the town, and they 
are obliged to spend a great deal of money. 

Are there any local usurers in the district, and what 
is their rate of interest? We have mealmongers in the 
country, who give out oats to assist them in seeding 
their ground; the people are not able to seed their 
ground from being so poor ; they call upon the meal- 
monger and he gives out meal to them ; there is a kind 
of contract ; they sell dear and buy cheap. I would say 
that when meal can be purchased for IO5., they would sell, 
it at the highest price, from 145. to I65., or even higher 
than that, and then the person gives his promissory note 
to the party of whom he has purchased, to pay him a 
certain sum ; the person after he has received this pro- 
mise to pay, buys back the meal at 9<s., one shilling 
under the market price, and besides that, they often 
charge them two shillings over again for their trouble, 
and with the money the poor people raise in that way, 
they purchase their seed oats. 

What is the usual mode of recoverinsr rent from de- 
faulting tenants ? At present it is changed sonicwhat ; 
they impounded the cattle formerly, it is now done by 
marked writs or civil bill process and decrees. 
9" 



202 APPENDIX. 

Are arrears of long standing held over against tlie 
tenants? I think not. 

Are the receipts of rent usually on account, or up to 
a particular day ? I know properties where a receipt is 
given for a term for the November and May rent, speci- 
fying it; there are other properties upon which it is 
given on account, where the agent wishes either to de- 
fraud the tenant er defraud the landlord. 
• Is the tenure immediately under the proprietors or 
under middlemen, and what *is the condition of those 
holding under each class ? We have very few middle- 
men. 

What is the state of the tenants holding under those 
middlemen where you have them 7 Some are in a de- 
plorable state. 

Do the tenants hold generally at will or by lease? 
We have very few leases ; they hold generally at will. 
I might almost say universally, except in the neighbour- 
hood of Buncrana, upon one property. 

What effect Las this tenure upon the condition of the 
tenantry ? The effect is that the rents are double, gene- 
rally augmented by the caprice or avarice of the land- 
lord. 

Do you find that the increased value given to the 
land by the labour of the occupier, has been charged 
upon him afterwards in the shape of increased rent? 
Yes, I think so, or they could by no means meet the de- 
mand. 

Have you had opportunities by your own knowledge, 
of ascertaining that this is the case ? I would be in- 
clined to think that the experience I have throughout 
the country would go to prove it. 



APPENDIX. 203 

From what do you draw this conclusion ? From a 
comparison of the rents now paid in the district, com- 
pared to the rents which I have been informed they 
paid forty years ago. 

With respect to permanent improvements upon land, 
are they effected by the landlord, or tenant, or jointly? 
I would say that by both are those improvements 
effected. 

In what proportion, and how is that proportion se- 
cured to either party ? The landlord is secured with 
respect to the improvement that is made ; he is sure of 
getting the benefit, but the tenant is not ; he has no 
security, except the humanity of the landlord. 

Do you think that v/hat you have observed in the in- 
crease of the rent, according to the improvement pro- 
duced by the occupier, has had the effect of discouraging 
the occupier from making improvements ? Yes ; I think 
he makes no improvement except through sheer neces- 
sity. I speak generally, there may be exceptions. 

What do you mean by sheer necessity? The rent 
and taxes press upon him so hard that the land culti- 
vated hitherto will not meet the demand, and he is ob- 
liged to extend his cultivation. 

With a view to get an extended amount of produce ? 
Yes. 

He derives the benefit of it ? He is more or less able 
to meet the demands ; it facilitates the payment of the 
demands made upon him in the way of taxation and 
rent ; but with regard to benefit, I would consider that 
the tenant, with respect to clothing and the comforts of 
life, derives very little. 



204 APPENDIX. 

Does not it give him a greater amonnt of return ? 
Yes, a greater amount of return, and it makes him more 
independent. I should speak more correctly if I said it 
gave the landlord a greater amount of return. 

Do I understand that the tenant in the first instance 
brinsrs more land into cultivation in order to meet the 
demands upon him, but that his interest in it is dimin- 
ished, as the landlord increases the rent ? I say at the 
present time the tenant has to pay 10?. rent, and he dis- 
poses of all the corn he grows upon the land, and that 
does not meet the 10/. ; he is therefore obliged to bring 
in pasture land out of the mountain to enable him to 
pay the "rent; it does not benefit him, it makes him 
more independent of the landlord ; if he did not pay it 
he would be turned out for non-payment of rent. 

It enables him to pay his rent ? Yes. "^ 

Supposing a tenant takes a farm, which in its unim- 
proved state, gives a produce worth SOL a year, and he 
lays out his labour and money upon it, and he makes 
it yield an amount of produce worth 501. a year, and he 
holds it at the same rent for twenty or thirty years, at 
the end of which time the rent is increased, do you not 
conceive during that twenty or thirty years he has had 
a return, which in ordinary cases, would repay the out- 
lay of his labour and capital ? I would say that he 
might have a return, provided the land was fruitful and 
productive during that time. 

Is the tenant-right, or sale of good- will, prevalent in 
the district, and to whom is the purchase-money paid ? 
It has been prevalent ; but it has been much restricted 
lately. 



APPENDIX. 205 

Is it equally allowed to tenants-at-will as to persons 
having leases? Yes; I tliink it was more so in some 
cases to tenants holding from year to year, than to per- 
sons having leases which have expired. I have some 
cases which I can show illustrative of that. 

Have you known cases of eviction of tenants at-will 
without compensation for their tenant-right ? Yes, I 
have ; I have heard it, and believe it^ having inquired 
into the facts. Upon one townland twelve persons were 
served with ejectment process, in order to compel them 
to pay a sum of money to set up in business a son of 
the proprietor, who had lately married ; the proprietor 
was a middleman ; in one case this sum amounted to 
411., and the person was absolutely turned out by eject- 
ment, until he complied with the demand, and then he 
was restored to his farm again, paying the same rent as 
before. In another case, where a double rent was de- 
manded at the expiration of the lease the goods were 
seized, and no less than fourteen keepers, at 2s, 6d, a 
day, were put on the house and farm, and upon the 
pound. A horse had been seized, which was cheap at 
8?. ; it was sold, but the poor man was only paid IZ., the 
rest having gone in the costs of the distress. 

In what year did this take place? This occurred 
about 1831. 

Has this system been continued? Yes, it has; and 
fourteen families, consisting of seventy-six individuals, 
have been ejected within the last fourteen years with- 
out any compensation on one townland, and two of 
them were obliged to pay the law expenses : tliat is 
the statement I have received. Four of those cases 



206 APPENDIX. 

have occurred lately, and some of them had paid as 
much as from 601 to 1001 originally for the tenant- 
right ; they y/ere not allowed to sell it ; they did not 
get a penny of compensation, and the stones of one 
person's dwelling when thrown down, were afterwards 
sold to the contractor for four guineas. 

Do you believe that many cases have occurred where 
persons have been ejected because they would not pay 
double rent in the way you have mentioned ? I think 
there are few cases in Vv^hich they have been ejected 
because they would not pay the double rent. 

Have you heard any complaints of the manner in 
which distresses are made in the district with which 
you are connected? Yes, very many. 

What has been the nature of them ? The bailiff 
going and seizing the cows and horses, and bringing 
them to the pound, without having the permission of 
the agent, in order to raise money ; on one property I 
know very well, a young man, the son of the bailiff 
who had been employed there, was in the habit of 
doing business for the father, and he was in the habit of 
going down to the townlands and stopping there during 
the night, and seizing as many cattle as would raise as 
much as 305. or IZ., and come up to town and spend it 
in drinking. 

Are these cases of improper distress frequent in that 
country ? I think so. 

Is that bailiff employed now ? No, neither of them is 
employed as bailiff now. 

Is it a frequent practice in the country to serve no- 
tices to quit upon the tenants, for the purpose of re- 



APPENDIX. 207 

covering the rents ? Yes, and for other purposes ; to 
keep them in the state of serfs, in order that the tenants 
may be altogether under their control. I think the 
notices to quit are served upon them in order to make 
them more dependent in spirit. 

Are those notices to quit attended with costs to the. 
tenant ? No, they are not. 

Are the proceedings attendant upon the notice to 
quit attended with costs? Yes. I would state the 
general amount charged for an ejectment process ; in 
some cases it is 25<s., and in others 12s. 6d 

Do you conceive that these cases are frequently brought 
to raise a certain sum of money from the tenant in the 
shape of law costs ? On my oath I believe there are 
cases in which these ejectment processes are served for 
that purpose. I have heard and believe, that a certain 
agent was in the custom upon the Sabbath Day, to go 
into a certain house, and having got leave to put an at- 
torney's name upon the process, they were served, and by 
that means put money into the party's pocket — that I 
have heard from the clergyman ; there were seventy-five 
processes served, and 25s. each charged upon them, in 
the parish of Olonmany, in the last few years. 

In reference to the payment of rent, is there a practice 
existing of requiring a fine in case the rent is not regu- 
larly paid ? I do not know of it being the case except 
upon one property. 

Is it still the case there ? Yes, as far as I understand. 

Are you able to state to the commissioners what was 
the amount of that fine ? It was 2^. 6d, if they did not 
pay the rent upon the day ; there is a certain day ap- 



208 APPEXDIX. 

pointed, and if tliey do not pay tlieir rent tliat day tliey 
are fined 2^. 6d.j and after paying the fine, if they keep 
it longer after the first week they are charged at the rate 
of 1.5. in the pound ; that was the statement made to me 
by a very respectable person. 

With regard to the tenant-right, do you know of your 
knowledge that it is now the practice in the district with 
which you are accjuainted, to refuse to allow a person to 
purchase the tenant-right, and thereby to become the 
tenant, upon pohtical or religious grounds ? I have 
heard of it occuiiing upon one j)roperty, but that is a few 
years ago. 

Does the system of binding the tenant to a particular 
mill still continue in your district ? Yes, on one property 
they are bound to the mill, though the mill d.oes not 
exist. 

Is there any differences in the management of estates 
of diff"erent classes ; for example, the estates of large or 
small proprietors, or the estates of absentee and resident 
^proprietors ? I think there is very httle diflerence. 

Have you any suggestions to make as to any amend- 
ment that might be made in the existing law that aftects 
landlords and tenants ? I wish to make some remarks 
ujDon the subject of the answers to some queries which I 
circulated among a gTeat number of townlands. I have 
received answers from thirty or forty townlands, in which 
it is stated, that after paying rent, county cess, &;c., there 
remains but a few potatoes for the sujDport of their fami- 
lies ; that not above three or four, on the average, are 
able to sow their land in seedtime without getting trust 
meal, which they sell for ready money to buy seed ; 



APPENDIX. 209 

that there are not above four or five townlands in 
the number in which there are feather beds at all. 
Considering the rents v^hich the tenantry are obliged to 
pay throughout the country, and comparing those rents 
with the rate of the markets, and considering that a great 
portion of the rents were imposed in war time, when the 
produce was three times the value it is at present, I would, 
in the first place, suggest that there should be a re-valua- 
tion of the lands, and that there should be confidence 
given to all parties. I would, with all deference, suggest 
that there should be a valuator appointed by the landlord, 
a valuator appointed by the people in vestry, and that 
the government should appoint an arbiter with respect to 
those two valuers, that in case the valuator on the part 
of the landlord, and the valuator on the part of the ten- 
ant, should not agree, the government arbiter should be * 
called upon to settle the difference. 

Have you any other suggestion you wish to make ? 
Secondly, I would submit that after this valuation, leases 
should be given for a certain number of years to the ten- 
ants, so as to secure to them the fruits of their industry. 
I would specify the chief terms, in order to make myself 
more distinct, twenty-one years, forty-one years, and 
sixty-one years. A landlord giving a lease for twenty- 
one years, I would suggest that a certain portion of the 
improvements should go to the landlord, and that the 
tenant, before he could be ejected from the property, 
should be paid for a certain portion, as his term is shorter. 
I should say that two-thirds of the value of the improve- 
ments should go to the tenant, and one-third to the land 
lord, to induce him to grant leases. In the case of a forty- 



210 APPEXDIX. 

one years' lease, I should say that it should be one half that 
should be paid to the landlord ; and in the case of a 
sixty-one years' lease, I should think the tenant recom- 
pensed, and that the landlord then might have another 
valuation. Upon what I would call immutable justice, I 
think the tenant is entitled to his improvements in every 
case ; but, as there must be a compromise, that is a sugges- 
tion I would make. I would suggest again to the gentry 
of the country, that the persons employed by the gentry of 
the comitry as bailiffs, should be persons of good charac- 
ter. There is nothing so destructive to 'the peace of the 
community, and no one thing which has cre-ated so much 
bad feeling, as the. miscreants who have been appointed 
by the gentry of the country to manage their property 
for them ; I mean the under-bailiffs, they are generally 
{)ersons who have no respect for their word or their oaths, 
and are capable of doing any one thing. In the neigh- 
borhood in which I reside, there are two persons employ- 
ed as bailiffs ; one of them was turned off by the barris- 
ter, Henn, because he could not decide conscientiously 
upon any case in which he was concerned, and that per- 
son has the management of a very extensive property. 
I consider that many of the acts done, which reflect dis- 
grace upon the agent, are attributable to the misrepresen- 
tations of this person. I would suggest the removal of 
those persons, and the employment of persons of sober 
habits and good character. 

Have you any other suggestion jou wish to offer to the 
commissioners ? In case the tenants should get leases for 
terms of years, I should suggest that a few acres of land 
should be set apart for national schools, for the purpose of 



APPENDIX. 211 

training the children in agricultural pursuits, which could 
be done easily. In the mountain districts we are establish- 
ing school, with the assistance of the gentry in the neigh ^ 
borhood. There is one remark I would make as to the 
decrease of the population. I think I can speak of the 
inhabitants of all sects, and I do not think they have in- 
creased in the last thirteen years. In Upper Fahan there 
has been a reduction of 130 in the last thirteen years ; 
this I attribute to the want of comfort on the part of the 
people, and the harrassing system they are exposed to ; 
they are obliged to work harder than they were formerly. 
Ten or twenty years ago they were not obliged to work 
half so much ; their comforts have diminished and their 
labor has increased ; the population not keeping up with 
the ratio of propagation, as the expression is, I would 
say it is attribu.table to the great number of deaths we 
have in the country, and the very few marriages. 



212 APPENDIX. 

LETTER TO THE CORK TEN'ANT LEAGUE. 

BuNCRANA, May 4, 1847. 
Sir — It is Tvith extreme difficulty, on account of the awful 
pressure of the times, that I can steal a moment from the 
duties they impose, to acknowledge the receipt of your 
esteemed favor, and to convey to your committee the ex- 
pression of my warmest gratitude for the too kind and hon- 
orable notice they have taken of me. I regret to have to 
say that the rules, address, and pamphlet to which you 
allude in your communication, have not as yet reached me. 
The regret however is being alleviated by the lucid, forcible, 
and truly eloquent exposition of your principles made in the 
admirable letter I had from you. To these principles I can 
have no hesitation in gi\dng my adhesion — no reason to re- 
fuse them my support or my approval. From the time I 
was able to think, they were my own. They grew with my 
growth, and strengthened with my strength. Every day's 
bitter experience of the barbarous system of landlord rule, 
fenced round by laws innumerable, to render it in mischief 
ejcfective, and secure it against the reaction natural to mis- 
deeds, gave them in my mind, if possible, a still more 
enduring fixity ; and if I longed for anything, it was for 
such a reunion as yours — moral, peaceful, constitutional, 
yet resolute, and determined to subvert that system, or 
force its abettors to capitulate to what they never yet, as a 
body, recognized — pity or equity, or both. The principles 
of your league are the unmixed principles of commutative 
justice. The contracts hitherto between landlord and tenant 
may have been legal ; they were not generally just. The 
tenant, from the peculiar circumstances in which he was 



APPENDIX. 213 

placed, could not ascend to that level with the proprietor 
which a contract, to be just or binding in conscience, essen- 
tially requires. He was not a free agent. It was, with him, 
" land or death !" The " equalitas rei ad rem^^ was placed 
in abeyance, or forced to yield by the alternative of starva- 
tion in the prospective, whilst the caprice or avarice of the 
lord of the soil became the sole criterion of its value. A 
landlord parliament of course sanctioned the injustice wliich 
rapacity exacted, and inscribed in the head of the book of 
their legislation, as an incontrovertible maxim, " that the 
proprietors had a right to do Avhat they pleased with their 
own" — a dictum^ if taken without limitation, destructive of 
morals, religion, and society. This right, in their hands, 
assumed a comprehensiveness, to which the modern and 
ancient worlds were almost strangers — I said almost, for 
Nero, as we read, burned Rome on a principle somewhat 
similar. This right of the lords of the soil was being not 
only extended to the fruit of the tenant's labor, to the ox, 
the ass, the man-servant, and maid-servant of the husband- 
man, but to his very soul and body ; for even with these to 
do what they pleased, many of them claimed an unques- 
tionable right. Nothing ever approached to this barathrum 
marcelli principle of theirs, but the right given, permitted, 
or assumed by Saul over a rebellious people — the just pen- 
alty of revolt against the indulgent sovereignty of their 
Lord : — " He will take your sons, and put them in his 
chariots, and make them his horsemen and his footmen, and 
he will appoint them to plough his fields and reap his corn. 
Your daughters he will take to be his cooks and bakers. 
He will take your fields and vineyards, and your best olive- 
yards, and give them to his servants. Your servants also 



214 APPENDIX. 

and your handmaids and your good bred young men and 
your asses he Tvill take away, and put them to his own work. 
Your flocks also he will take, and you shall be his servants," 
etc. — 1st Kings, chap. 8th. SauPs right they have ever 
claimed as theirs, in Ireland; SauPs rapacity they have 
literally imitated ; Saul's destiny I do not, however, wish 
them. Saul's right ended in a bloody rebellion in which he 
lost his crown and life. Theirs, I fondly hope, will end 
with the famine and pestilence it has created, or eventuate 
in a fair and equitable adjustment of their and your rights. 
They cannot lose by having this right abridged, or crushed 
into proper dimensions. It only worked ruin to themselves 
and the nation — its only produce. 

Dead sea fruits that tempt the eye 
But turn to ashes on the lip. 

With us, I am happy to be be able to say, tenant right 
is, at least, partially admitted, and many even practically 
admit the other duties which property imposes : but they 
are, alas ! comparatively few — these just and good men, 
like streaks of glory scattered here and there on our other- 
wise dark and dismally clouded sky, such men as Sharman 
Crawford, the Marquis of Londonderry, the Marquis of 
Abercorn, Earl Gosford, and some others of all creeds 
whom it is needless to mention, prominently stand forth, as 
beacon lights, not surpassed in beneficent splendour by the 
proprietary of any other country. Verily they have their 
reward in their happy tenantry who look up to them with 
pride and affection, punctually pay their rents, and securely 
repose in the shade of their own " vine and fig-tree.'' To- 
gether with the tenant right, the principle of compensation 
for improvements by some, is being admitted — they receive 



APPENDIX. 215 

of course the full value of their lands without trouble and 
are moreover repaid, by way of interest, A^ith the benedic- 
tions of a peaceable, prosperous, and contented people. It 
is passing strange that principles working so much good — 
so evidently just, so indisputable, could have any adver- 
saries pretending to common sense, or to any clear notions 
of equity, or even of their own interests. 

The Cotton-grower of Lancaster, South Carolina, has as 
much right to claim, without compensation, the calicoes of 
Manchester, Glasgow, or Paisley, because he supplied to 
the manufacturer the raw material, as the landlord has to 
the tenant's improvements, because he let him the land. 
To thrust men out on the world who reclaimed the bleak 
and barren mountain side of deep morass, not value for 6d. 
per acre, until, fertilized by the sweat of their brows, and 
made valuable by their toil and capital, may have a sanc- 
tion in law, but has none from justice — may be the act of 
a professing Christian, but is not, surely, the doing of an 
honest man. Again, to increase the rent as the tenant im- 
proves, and tax his industry, is not only flagitiously unjust;, 
but, practically, a premium on indolence. Your scale for 
adjusting or regulating the burthens to be respectively borne 
by landlord and tenant, is so strictly impartial, that no 
reasonable man could object to it ; no just man would. 1 
am delighted to have to inform you, that the tenant class 
in Ulster are becoming alive to the necessities of the times, 
and the truly perilous position in which they are being 
placed. Your principles — your fears — your hopes — are 
theirs ; and, in the partial enjoyment of some favors you do 
not possess, feeling them to be precarious, they seek like 
you to establish them on an immutable basis. They have 



216 APPENDIX. 

able advocates in the northern press — the Belfast Vindica- 
tor^ the JYorthren Whig^ and in the Berry Journal^ and 
Standard^ and they have zealous, vigorous supporters ; 
whilst their adversaries are only being sustained by the 
merest drivellers that ever figured in a Dunciad. You have 
with you the liberal press of Dublin, the feelings of the great 
majority of the English people, who detest your oppressors — 
the sympathies of the world ; and, what is better than all, 
on your side is justice and Erin, on theirs is oppression and 
guilt. If it be not your own fault, you must succeed, and 
your success will lay the foundation of Ireland's prosperity ; 
for even a Repeal of the Union, without the full recognition 
of your rights, would be of small service to our country. I 
see, moreover, in the constitution of your committee, the 
successful issue of the glorious struggle to which you are 
committed. It comprises men of every creed, united by 
the strong ties of brotherhood, and viewing man as he is, 
by the still stronger ties of mutual interest to work out a 
common good. Religion, that should bring you together 
for purposes of universal benevolence, can no longer be 
made, by the crafty, designing, or wickedly interested, to 
keep you asunder ; nor can you henceforth, by any insidious 
legerdemain, be induced to see in the face of a fellow-coun- 
tryman, because he differs from you in creed, that of an 
enemy. Ireland, you feel, is sufficient for us all, intended 
by a gracious Providence to make us all happy together. 
A few rapacious men, by sowing discord in the name of God 
and religion, made it the most miserable land on earth. 
They stirred up Protestant and Catholic to hate, and fool- 
ishly war with each other — like the mouse and the frog of 
the fable, with this difference, that, instead of the straw and 
9* 



APPENDIX. 217 

the bulrush, they armed them with bayonet, and bludgeon, 
and marshalled them on to murderous, reckless and ridicu- 
lous conflict ,• that, whilst engaged in this silly yet suicidal 
strife, they might, vulture-like, pounce upon, seize, and 
swallow up both as a morsel of bread. You are happily, I 
see, unlearning the lesson they taught you, and beginning, 
to their great dismay, to enquire at length, with your old 
fellow sufferers of Mantua, 

En, quo discordia Gives 
Perduxit miseros ! Ea quels consevimus agros. 

He who is not '' the God of dissension, but of Peace,'' will, 
I cherish the hope, bless your united efforts ; and history 
will have to record that the sweet Mononia, that gave us a 
Boirhoime, a Cormac, a Curran^ Fathers O'Leary and 
Mathew, and an O'Connell, crushed the head of a serpent 
more venomous than any banished by our great apostles 
from our land — a greater '^ monster'' than the Kraaken of 
the northren ocean, or that which swallowed up Jonas alive ; 
turned the dense mist of misery which shrouded our island 
into sunbeams ; brought security, comfort, and gladness 
around the peasant's hearth ; and made Ireland, what she 
ought to be, with all bounteous gifts of Heaven to her, the 
happiest kingdom on earth. Even the Patrician, whom 
you shall have forced to descend from the giddy and un- 
certain eyrie of domineering injustice to the smoother, safer 
plane of equity, will thank you for the service rendered him 
in giving him, at length, a resting-place, more noble and 
more secure tluin any he ever occupied, in the hearts and 
affections of a grateful tenantry. Posterity, of course, Avill 
point to Cork, whence the tenant league, like another Cor- 
nelia, sent forth its jewels, to redeem and rescue our com- 



218 APPENDIX. 

mon country from the most galling link in the whole chain 
of her bondage. These hurried, scattered remarks on one 
of the most important subjects that have arrested the at- 
tention of Irishmen, elicited as they have been by your elo- 
quent letter, you will receive with that indulgence they 
require. However faint and imperfect, they are still the 
approving echo of your own admirable sentiments. 

Believe me, with earnest hopeful aspirations for the suc- 
cess of your committee, your most obliged and obedient 
servant, ^^ Edward Maginn. 

W. H. Trenwith, Esq., Hon. Sec, &c. &c. 



APPENDIX. 219 

TO DR. Mcknight, of derhy. 

BUNCRANA, October 27, 1847. 
Sir. — I have, in all sincerity, to express my deep 
regret that, from indisposition, I cannot realize the 
j)leasiDg hope which — on my departure from Dublin, 
and even up to this moment — I fondly entertained — of 
being able to assist at the dinner which the tenant farm- 
ers of the North of Ireland, and the enlightened and 
respectable mercantile classes of the city of Derry, pur- 
pose giving this evening to that distinguished patriot — 
the long-tried and genuine friend of the Irish agricultur- 
ist — Sharman Crawford, Esq. But few — very few in 
Ireland — have so well deserved such a compliment at 
our hands. His views, the most matured — the practical 
and benefical example he sets on his own estates com- 
mensurate with his views — his integrity so unbending — 
his energy and perseverence so indomitable ; through 
good report and evil report it was with him '^ still on- 
ward," no matter how checked or contravened, to im- 
prove the condition of the farming population depressed 
by systematic misrule, and discouraged by the precarious 
titles on which their right, yea, their very existence, 
depended. He hoped against hope — unassisted, unbe- 
friended; he battled still for justice, exhibiting in his 
person the most beautiful object on which the eye of 
heaven can rest — 'The just man struggling with advers- 
ity.' To do such men honour is meet, is just, and to 
omit this duty would be, on the part of those for whom 
he struggled, base ingratitude. Though absent in bod\^, 
I am present with you in heart and spirit to pay him 



220 APPENDIX. 

every mark of respect. My humble but sincere concur- 
rence you have in the cause in which you are embarked, 
and as far as my influence can go, it shall be cordially 
exerted to co-operate with you in bringing your praise- 
worthy purpose to a successful issue. 

I further, in all earnestness, respond to the beautiful 
sentiment which your committee (composed as it is of the 
most respectable Protestants and Presbyterians) with a 
confidence I shall always highly value entrusted to my 
keeping. It is a delightful sentiment — ever the fondest 
desire of my heart. I longed — I sighed to see it real 
ized — a sentiment not less patriotic than Christian, 
which, if felt and understood, and brought into lively 
universal action, would shortly raise our country from 
the depths of unparalleled misery, in which she has been 
plunged, to that station Vv^hich God and nature intended 
her to occupy among the nations of the earth. Union 
among all classes and creeds in Ireland — a blissful senti- 
ment, and the only panacea for all the evils our unhappy 
country endures. And why, Sir, should we not be 
united in all things conducive to the common weal ? 
By nature, we are all brethren ; in society, we are all 
members of the same body. Eeligion, the loveliest 
daughter of Heaven, whose name is union, and whose 
mission is peace — religion given us by the God of love 
to bind man to his fellow-man, and men to the Being 
that made them, should not surely be made the occasion 
of keeping us asunder — that religion which sees in the 
face of an enemy that of a brother — which, not no mat- 
ter under what dress or form she be presented to us, 
must have charity as the very soul of her existence. 



APPENDIX. 221 

Why should she be made a bone of dissension, or an 
apple of discord among ns? Union, then, for every 
good purpose ; but union especially among all creeds to 
remove the monster injustice that afflicts our country : 
union to adjust at once and for ever the rights of man, 
and the rights of property — to establish, on the basis of 
the strictest equity, the rights of landlord and tenant. 
Union in such a cause is blissful, big with, liope and hap- 
piness for our country — for it is, undoubtedly, the cause 
of God — of patriotism — of charity in its purest sense, 
and of immutable justice ! It is the cause of God, who 
never intended that creatures made to His own immortal 
image should be treated as the agriculturists of Ireland 
have been hitherto ^' in their own, their native land ;'' the 
cause of our country made a ragged, forlorn, and discon- 
solate beggar, by this system, at every gate in Christen- 
dom. It is decidedly the cause of charity ; for if it be 
charitable to assist for God's sake, an individual brother 
man — to feed him when hungry — to clothe him when 
naked, and to shelter him from the pitiless storm, when 
a houseless outcast, etc., how much more so to raise a 
nation of paupers — of miserable serfs — to a condition of 
comfort, security, and independence — to give thema hap- 
py home, and prevent them from being made homeless. 
Your cause, and the cause of your league, is the cause 
of immutable justice. Justice, if I understand it right, 
considering it as a virtue, is that which constantly dis- 
poseth us to give to every man his rights. And have 
not the tenant class their rioihts as well as the landlord 
class ? I fully admit the right of the proprietor of the 
soil. I deny his having any right, now and for ever, to 



222 APPENDIX. 

either the prospective or retrospective improvements of 
his tenants. The raw material is the landlord's ; the 
manufacture is the tenant's. 

If I have made his land comparatively profitable from 
being unprofitable, what right has he to the profits aris- 
ing purely from my labour ? Not more than the pro- 
prietor of a marble quarry would have to the statue 
when chiselled and shaped by the skilful hand of the 
artist into forms the most beautiful — into things breath- 
ing life. To the value of the rude block he could justly 
claim a title — to exact beyond it, even under the form 
of law, would be iniquitous. To extort it by force 
would be to rob the statuary of the fruits of his skill and 
labour. Again, men have an original natural right to 
live on the lands on which they were bred and born. 
The earth and its fulness is the domain of each and all. 
Their right is being based on the clearest expression of 
the Divine will. " You have made him little less than 
the angels, and placed him over the works of thy hands." 
Ps. The least infringement on this imiversal natural 
right by the division of the earth, or the transfer of the 
division of any portion of it to individuals, would be 
only justifiable in the hypothesis of its having been 
made for the general good of society. This natural right 
has been, by law, in Ireland lost sight of, or placed in 
utter abeyance for the supposed benefit of individuals- — 
themselves the makers of this law. It was not for the 
|)ublic good, nor even for the good of the individuals in 
wliose favor it was made. Witness the results : The 
farming classes have been beggared by it ; the landlord 
class made bankrupt by it ; the mercantile classes, whose 



APPENDIX. 223 

stay is tlie farmer's prosperity, have been made insolvent 
by it ; the laboring population by it stalk and stagger 
over the land, gaunt spectres of misery ; public credit, 
and nearly all confidence, have been destroyed by it. 
The ruin here occasioned by it is now, by the just retri- 
bution of God, re-acting on a neighboring kingdom that 
cradled the monster in its infancy, and nu.rsed it into 
vigor ; and unhappy Ireland in the lowest depths of the 
abyss, can only extend her arms to heaven for help. It 
is an absurdity, I should say a blasphemy, to impute this 
wreck of realms to the rot of the potato. Many causes, I 
admit, led to it ; but, principally, the insecurity, or rather 
almost utter rejection of the tenant's rights, and the grind- 
ing exactions of the landlord class generally. All was 
seized on by them, the potato excepted. God struck this 
root — the pretext of extortion, and the unholy system in 
its ultimate terrible effects became known to the world. 
The world knowing it, universally condemns it. Were 
it not for his divine interposition it would have continued 
for ages, accumulating its iniquity, unnoticed and una- 
mended. The potato rotted in France, in Belgium, in 
Germany, in England, and in Scotland, and the failure 
of it was scarcely felt. It rots in Ireland, and the crash 
of ruin echoes to the extremities of the earth. Whence 
this difference ? I say its cause is to be found especially 
in the unhallowed treatment the occupiers of the soil in 
Ireland received. Take, Sir, for example, the following 
illustrations. I omit the names of the townlands and of 
their landlords, as it would be invidious to mention them. 
Besides, they are not worse — nay, some of them are 
better — than many of their class. I have before me the 



224 APPENDIX. 

statistics of twenty townlands, -with the corresponding 
progressive rise of rents in each, from 1800 to 1843, and 
also the relative market jorices of the productions of 
agriculture during the same period : 

No, 1 Rent in 1808, £24 Irish. 

" 1811, £53 Irish, now £61 British. \ 

No. 2 Rent in 1800, £8 4s. Irish, now £60 British. 
• No. 3 Rent In 1804, £15 Irish, now £31 British, 
No. 4 Rent in 1802, £10 Irish, now £25 10s. British 
No. 5 Rent in 1801, £40 Irish. 

*' 1811, raised to £80 Irish, now £26 British. 

" 1812 and 1814 " " '^ 

No. 6 Rent in 1801, £53 8s. 9d. Irish, now £98 British. 
No. 7 Rent in 1801, £35 Irish. 

'' 1811, raised to £58 Irish, now £70 British. 

" 1812 and 1814 " " " 

No. 8 Rent in 1801, £80 Irish. 

" 1811, raised to £150 Irish, now £162 British. 
1812 and 1814 " " '' 

No. 9 Rent in 1801, £1 Irish. 

-' 1811, raised to £117 Irish, now £134 British. 

" 1812 and 1814 " " " 

As you know the corresponding market prices of the 
periods alluded to, I will not detain you with their de- 
tails. From this illustration we could reasonably con- 
clude what the result of such a system would necessarily 
be, even had we not the actual misery of our country be- 
fore our eyes, produced by it. Yvath regard to the ex- 
amples which 1 have given, one of two things must be 
certain, viz., that the tenant classes on the aforesaid town- 
lands, mu.st have been either taxed for their industry, or 
wantonly oppressed by the proprietors. As these are 
not isolated cases, but merely parts selected from the 
whole, for the purposes of undivided meditation or illus- 
tration, I say it is the duty of all classes, and of all creeds, 
to unite and put an end at once to such an iniquity. Our 
rulers have tried their hands to make land dear, and flesh 



APPENDIX. 225 

and blood clieap. It is fall time for tliem to retrace their 
steps so ruinous to society, and secure as far as possible, 
to the Irish farmerj his natural rights, by wise and vigor- 
ous legislation. Let them, of course, hold the rights of 
property sacred ; but, above all things, let them not for- 
get the rights of man, which the law of God, '^ whose is 
the earth and the fulness thereof," makes the rights of 
man still more sacred. They foolishly lost sight of the 
law of nature. By nearing themselves to it, and keep- 
ing it full in view, all things may be put to right again. 
Whatever the duty of the government may be. Sir, the 
duty of all sects and creeds in Ireland is clear — yea, pal- 
pable, to unite and say that this system must have an 
end. Protestants, Presbyterians, and Catholics, all have 
here a neutral ground to stand and work upon — a com- 
mon cause to work for — a common interest to promote — 
a common enemy to oppose. From this duty there 
should be no shrinking. The present is the moment to 
forge the bolt, and strike with unerring aim the monster 
injustice. The leagues are the smithies in which the 
thunders of public opinion must be forged. In this holy 
work all must co-operate with earnestness, energy, single- 
mindedness, and perseverance. 

" Brontesque, Steropesque et nudns membra Pyracmon." 

Let the Episcopalian bring to it his ^' three rays of 

hailstorm" — the Presbyterian his *^ three of watery 

clouds" — the Catholic his "" three of sparkling flame" — 

the Methodist his '' winged south winds," and the stern 

sturd}^ Covenanter, his 

" Fulgores terrificos, sonitumque, metumque, 
Miscere operi et flammis scquacibus iras." 



226 APPENDIX. 

It is, however, the system, and not men, with which 
we have to deal. They are merely its creatures, born, 
bred, and educated under it, and the best that ever lived, 
nursed as they were, and petted, would not, without pe- 
culiar graces, have escaped its poisonous infection. 
Adam has bequeathed to us all the spirit of domination 
and oppression, and if not checked by other causes, it 
naturally and inevitably works its mischief. In all dis- 
cussions on this subject, differences on religion and poli- 
tics should be placed in abeyance. The league must 
strono'lv bar their o'ates a^'ainst their introduction. Let 
the terms of our holy confederation be such that the 
principles w^e conscientiously entertain, shall be of ne- 
cessity held inviolate. On these terms alone we. Catho- 
lics^ join you. The only condition of our allegiance is 
simply and beautifully expressed in the following lines : 

" cum jam leges et foedera jungent, 



Ne vetus indigenas nomen mutare Latinos, 
Nee Troas fieri jubeas Teucrosque vocari 
Aut Tocum mutare viros aut vertere vester.^' 

Wishing you, Sir, and all joined with you in a cause 
which I believe to be that of truth, of justice, of patri- 
otism, and of God, every blessing in your endeavors to 
secure the prosperity of Ireland not less than your own 
rights ; and again expressing my sincere regret for my 
unavoidable absence from this evening's entertainment, 
I remain your faithful and obedient servant, 

►>Edavard Maginn. 

James M'Knight, Esq., Secretary, &c. 



m. mGmW& political COMESPONDEJfCE. 

Dublin, December 26, 184:7. 

My Beloved Lord^ — Pardon my intrusion, to which I 
am forced by my anxiety to express my admiration of 
your heautiful letters. Thank heaven, the Church and 
the faithful Irish people have such a champion ! You 
have cheered our hearts at a time when all things else 
tended heavily to depress. 

I am glad to see that, at any rate^ a portion of your 
admirable letter to Lord Stanley has been permitted to 
appear in the London press — the Morning Chronicle in- 
serting portions of it yesterday. I was privately informed 
in London, that sly and crotchety Sir Robert Ferguson 
was the cause why the Grovernment Landlord and Tenant 
Bill was not introduced this last session. Lord Claren- 
don asked his opinion, which, of course, was unfavorable. 
Now what a pity that some "bird of the air" does not 
carry this matter to the ears of the Northmen ! 

I am, my beloved Lord, with the deepest respect, 
esteem and respectful affection. 

Ever most devotedly yours, 

John O'Connell. 

The Lord Bishop of Derry. 



London (13 Belgrave Square)^ April 15, 1848. 

My Lord^ — I beg to thank you sincerely for the flat- 
tering manner in which you hav^e noticed my weak ef- 



228 APPENDIX. 

forts to draw attention to the claims of the suffering poor 
of Ireland, in your letter of the 5th, which I have had 
the honor of receiving to-day. I need not say more 
than express my deep regret that my power to demand 
redress for their grievances does not enable me to make 
my acts correspond with my wishes, or the strong and 
earnest feelings I entertain, and have for years enter- 
tained, on the subject. Depend on it, I will lose no op- 
portunity of which I can avail myself, to press forward 
the subject. Your letter will, I hope, arm me with some 
authority in doing so, and I will anxiously watch the 
chances of makins; a move in the matter. 

I fear the measure for preventing or mitigating the 
harshness of the clearances promised by Government, will 
turn out of no value. We v/ill do all we can to im- 
prove it, and make it more effectual. If time is afforded 
for pressing effectual measures on the Government and 
Parliament — before matters come in Ireland to a crisis 
in which even Parliament may be powerless — I do still 
hope the session will not be fruitless of such good acts. 
The measures I have earnestly, for three years past, 
pressed on Government, are : 

1. Protection and security to the tenant-farmer from 
the caprice and rapacity of his landlord. 

2. The removal of all restraints on the sale, leasing, 
and free disposal of land, with a brief and cheap par- 
liamentary title. 

3. A large measure of public employment for the 
able-bodied poor, chiefly in reclaiming waste lands, to 
be subsequently divided into moderate sized farms, and 
sold or leased in perpetuitj^. 



APPENDIX. 229 

Measures such as these, vigorously carried out, might, 
I hope, prevent the convulsion with which Ireland seems 
menaced, and save the lives of the thousands who in the 
present state of the law, are now threatened with inter- 
mination. 

Since you mention the Poor Law as at present, worked 
in such a manner as to fail even in prolonging the lives 
of those whom it takes under its protection, allow me to 
suggest that means should be taken by the friends of 
the poor, (such as your Lordship, and the other mem- 
bers of the Catholic hierarchy and clergy, who have so 
devotedly fulfilled the duties of their high position, as 
the patrons, advisers, and protectors of the poor) to en- 
force those provisions of that law which are framed for 
their benefit. Having taken an active part in recom- 
mending this law to Parliament and the government, 
and when it was introduced, having striven (and with, 
as I believed, considerable success) to obtain its passing 
in such a shape as should secure a right to relief m. destitu- 
tion to all classes of poor, I am strongly persuaded that 
the law, as it exists, contains enough vigour and power 
to secure this great object, if duly and vigilantly watched 
and enforced by the friends of the poor in each locality. 

The local authorities are required and commanded by 
the express terms of the act duly to relieve all classes of 
the destitute ; and if they neglect to do so effectively, 
they are open to the legal penalties of this demeanor^ for 
neglecting to perform, a duty imposed on them hj law. If 
through any such neglect, deatli unhappily ensues, they 
are moreover liable to indictment for manslaughter or cid- 
pable homicide, I believe. This is certainly tlic case in 



280 APPENDIX. 

England ; and our law is not more literally imperative 
in its injunctions on the authorities than yours. It has 
also recently been decided by the courts in Scotland, 
that a Poor Law Inspector, answering to your relieving 
officer, is indictable for culpable homicide^ if he neglect 
any poor -person requiring relief after application, and 
death ensue as a consequence. 

I wish some case of this kind were brought before the 
courts in Ireland. I have asked the question publicly 
of the Irish Secretary here, and it has not been denied 
that such is the law. In the first case you relate to me, 
for example, that of a poor woman of 70, recorded by 
the verdict of an inquest as having died of starvation, 
having received insufficient out-door relief (only ninepence 
a week to find lodging &c., as well as food), the relieving 
officer seems to me open to an indictment. If he acted 
by the command of the Board of Guardians, then the 
Chairman of the Board who gave the order would, I 
should think, be the party liable. Even the Poor Law 
Commissioners are subject to this legal responsibility, I 
imagine — and the Government of which they are mem- 
bers, to the highest amount of responsibility in Parlia- 
ment, at least, if not in the courts. I should say, how- 
ever, that this old woman's case might be considered a 
doubtful one, from her age and perhaps other infirmi- 
ties. I am told, at the present price of meal, one penny 
a day will provide food only even for an able-bodied 
man, so that, little enough as ninepence -a week is for 
the maintenance of any individual, it might be ques- 
tioned whether it was not barely sufficient. I should 
strongly recommend, however, that such cases should 



APPENDIX. 231 

be watclied, and that, when any clear case of neglect 
or insufficient relief (when duly demanded) appear, a 
prosecution should be instituted, and the question tried 
in court. This would have the effect of stimulating all 
officials under the law to activity in the discharge of 
their duties. 

I fear you will think me unimpressed by the threat- 
ening circumstances of the moment, from my dwelling 
on these minute matters. I fully sympathize with your 
indignation at the terrible condition in v/hich the law 
still leaves your poorer countrymen. But the law passed 
last year was some earnest of good intentions towards 
them on the part of the united Legislature, and I hope 
will be speedily followed by others more effectual, espe- 
cially such as I pointed out in the beginning of this hur- 
ried letter, for the deficiencies of which I have to ask 
your pardon, and that you will, notwithstanding, believe 
me ever, my Lord, 

Yours, very respectfully and sincerely, 

Gr. POULETT SCROPE. 



House of Commons, April 17, 1848. 
My Lord^ — I am further obliged by your last letter. 
With reference to the opinion you mention as given by 
Mr. Ilenn, that the Board of Guardians are not compelled 
by the injunctions of the Poor Law of last session to 
afford the necessary relief to the out-door poor, I can- 
not help thinking there must be some misunderstanding. 
Mr. Henn, I am aware, was consulted as to the quarter- 
acre clause, and his opinion was satisfactory on the point 



232 APPENDIX. 

that a legal evacuation of the holding was not necessary 
to entitle a pauper to relief, so that he, hona fide^ intended 
to give it up. I have shown your statement to Sir W. 
Somerville, who will make inquiry as to the facts. But 
this I feel quite certain of, that the act imperatively en- 
joins on the guardians to relieve aS cases of real necessity^ 
whether infirm or able-bodied. If the work-house is 
full, the responsibility of ordering the out-door relief of 
the dble-hodied^ rests with the Commissioners, they being 
informed of the want of room, &c., by the guardians or 
some third party. When that order is issued, the guar- 
dians, relieving officer, &o., are as much responsible for 
the due relief of the able-bodied as of the infirm poor. 
Of course they always must exercise a discretion in every 
case, as to whether it is, or is not, one of real destitution. 
But that discretion they exercise under the heavy respon- 
sibility of the duty imposed on them to relieve all who 
are really destitute, and the liability, as I stated in my 
first letter to indictment for misdemeanor, should it be 
clearly shown that in any case they neglected that duty 
and refused relief to the really destitute. 

I am no lawyer, but having taken part in the wording 
of the clauses with the view to securing a full right to 
every class of the destitute poor to relief, and having 
been satisfied by every accessible authority at the time, 
that this great object was effectually attained, I am very 
unwilling to believe that there can be any doubt on the 
matter ; especially as the wording of the act appears to 
me fully as stringent and compulsory as those of our 
English laws, under which overseers have been indicted 
and punished as misdemeanants for neglecting to reliev-^ 



APPENDIX. 233 

the poor, and also of the Scotch, law recently enacted, 
under which the courts have determined that an indict- 
ment for culpable homicide will lie against a Poor-law 
officer for refusing relief, and thereby giving occasion to 
the death of the party. 

I can have no objection to your circulating my letter 
in print, if you think it worth while. But I fear it was 
hastily and carelessly written, and must trust to your 
correction any inaccuracies of expression. The pro- 
posal to appropriate the waste lands of Ireland to the 
productive employment of the able-bodied poor, was 
made by me in June, 1846, in the shape of a bill which 
I got leave to introduce. I had reason to hope that the 
present government would take up the measure them- 
selves ; but their hearts failed them. Had it been at 
that time adopted, I believe much money and lives would 
have been saved last year, and many thousand happy 
farmers might have been located on the reclaimed lands 
already actively cultivating their own land. I believe 
some 200,000 might have been thus provided for. I am 
still pushing this measure on the government, but as yet 
they hold back. Lord John Eussell promised to under- 
take it last year, but was induced to drop it by represen- 
tations from the landlords, I believe, who do not like to 
part with an acre. I will take the liberty of sending 
you a couple of pamphlets, recently printed by me on 
this subject. 

I remain, my Lord, your very obedient servant, 

G. POULETT SCKOPE. 

p. S. I cannot account for my first letter being 
opened, but imagine it must have been accidental. 
Very Eev. Dr. Maginn, Lord Bishop of Derry, &c. 



234 APPENDIX. 

London, (13 Belgrave Square^) May 3, 1848. 

My Lord^ — I send you the correspondence given to 
me by Sir William Somerville, who on hearing from me 
the case of the poor woman in question, as related to me 
by your Lordship, thought it right to institute an inquiry, 
as I believe is uniformly done where a verdict of death 
from want of nourishment, or something to that effect, 
is recorded by a coroner's jury, and reported to the Board 
of Commissioners, or P. L. Inspector. I think the state- 
ment, on the whole, satisfactory, and leading to the con- 
clusion, that if this is one oj the worst cases that have oc- 
curred in your Lordship's neighborhood, there is no 
great reason to complain of the of&cials neglecting the 
poor under their charge. The only awkward part of 
the story to me, is the admission of the relieving of&cer 
that 9d. per week was his usual pay to adults ; by which 
I understand those really destitute, who had no power, 
or friends capable of assisting them, nor even perhaps 
house-room. Should this be the case, there must be 
great suffering endured by them. 

Pray believe that I shall feel honored by any commu- 
nications on the subject of the state of the poor that 
you make to me, and will do my best to turn them to 
good account. 

I beg to remain, my Lord, 

Your very obedient servant, 

Gr. POULETT SCROPE. 

Eight Eeverned Dr. Maginn, Lord Bishop of Derry. 



APPENDIX. 285 

BENEVOLENCE OF THE BRITISH PEOPLE DUKING THE 
IRISH FAMINE. 

BuNCRANA, June 19, 1848. 
Gentlemen^ — I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your 
favor of the 13th inst., and to state for your satisfaction, 
that the duty you would impose upon us we have an- 
ticipated, and, I fondly hope, faithfully discharged. Six 
months ago we and clergy, in conference assembled, con- 
'veyed by an anonymous resolution through the public 
papers, the warmest expression of our gratitude to all 
our benefactors, who practically sympathized with our 
people in their unparalleled destitution. We did not 
of course forget the benevolent, beneficent and humane 
among the English people, though we had reason to 
know that the greater part of their contributions was 
unblushingly misapplied to any and every purpose but 
the alleviation of the misery of our suffering poor. To 
the government we did not express our gratitude for 
the vote of money which they had made out of the 
common treasury towards our relief, and which was 
principally squandered, in the w^ay of patronage, on 
heartless of&cials who had no sympathy for or with our 
starving people. I do believe that many members of 
the Whig government intended well, as I know there 
are among them some excellent men, such as Lord Mor- 
peth, and others whom I need not name. They, how- 
ever, confided the carrying out of their good intentions 
to faithless hands, who abused the trust reposed in them, 
and did anything but save our people from destruction. 
Our then skeleton peasantry were forced, in their rags, 



236 APPENDIX 

amidst the frosts and snows of winter, to work, and 
starve, and die, not being able to earn more than 5d. per 
day, while thousands of pounds were lavished upon en- 
gineers, inspectors, check clerks, &c. The result of this 
mode of proceeding in the cure from which I am writ- 
ing to 3^ou was, that out of a population of ten thousand 
Catholics, eighteen hundred at least perished through 
cold and hunger, or pestilence, their natural conse- 
quence. For this state of things I don't think we have 
had any reason to thank the government, especially as 
we are impressed with the conviction that it was their 
duty to have taken good care^ at every risk and every 
expense to the commonwealth, to save the lives of Her 
Majesty's subjects, at least such was the opinion of an 
exceedingly wise man among the ancients — Aristotle. 
He was a Pagan, and I am sorry to have to intro- 
duce him as a teacher of humanity, and its duties to 
Christian rulers. " Quam multse autem sint res sine 
quibus, civitas, esse nequeat videndum est. Primum 
igitur victus sen alimentum suppetere debet ; deinde 
artes; tertio loco arma; deinde aliqua pecuniae vis et 
copia." — De Eepiiblica^ Lib. vii.. Cap. 8. I have no hes- 
itation in admitting that the benevolence of many in 
England had a most salutary effect, in obliterating from 
the minds of our people the wrongs of centuries, and 
making them forget and forgive the past ; but it would 
be uncandid in me to conceal from you, that the conduct 
of the organs of the British public, the odious calumnies 
they heaped upon the people and their clergy, the want 
of sympathy with our people generally during the pre- 
sent year, in which their distress has been, in most places, 



APPENDIX. 237 

more keenly felt than during the worst periods of '47 — 
the practical sympathy manifested by other countries 
with our people, even during this season, by Italy, 
France and America, from which countries I myself re- 
ceived large sums of money, with which I saved the 
lives of thousands of the starving poor in this diocese, 
while the Government and England showed nothing but 
cold indifference to our wants ; yea more, insulted and 
mocked at our misery, giving full swing — I should say, 
encouragement — to the ruthless exterminator to level the 
cabins of our peasantry, and cast them out in thousands 
to die in ditches ; all this, with many other things which 
it is useless for me now to mention, have much tended 
to remove the aforesaid good impressions, and spread 
disaffection everywhere abroad among us. Let but the 
people and government of England secure the rights of 
possession and of industry to our farmers, employment 
to our laboring classes ; let them remove from among 
ns these established anomalies which shock the common 
sense of Christendom, these nurseries of interested big- 
otry and consequent detestation of the masses of the 
Irish people, and make Ireland what she should be, 
prosperous and happy ; or rather, since they have failed 
in producing by their legislation this state of things, 
which it is the duty of all rulers to produce, though 
they had tried their hands at it for the last forty-eight 
years, and made things still worse, let them allow us to 
legislate for ourselves, and become, as we should be, re- 
sponsible for our own prosperity or misery, and Her 
Majesty Queen Victoria will not have, under the wide 
sway of her sceptre, more devoted subjects, nor the 



238 APPENDIX. 

English people more faithful friends and allies than the 
Irish people. I have the honor to be, 

Your most faithful, humble servant, 

►> Edward Maginn. 

To James Hawkins, Theo. Jones, John Gilmore, Esqrs. 



13 Windsor Tower, Kingstown, July 30, 1848. 
My Lord^ — I read, the other day, a letter or address 
of yours in the FreemarHs Joiirnal^ in which you made 
a most temperate statement, relative to the Established 
Church of Ireland. This day I have read with surprise, 
the speech of Mr. Anstey, the Eoman Catholic member 
for Yonghell, on Mr. Sharman Crawford's motion the 
other night, in which he says, ''He (Mr. Anstey) mnst 
say, as a Eoman Catholic, that the Eoman Catholics of 
Ireland did not consider the Established Church as the 
chief grievance of that country, nor indeed any grievance 
at allP'' Now, my Lord, does not this put the liberal, 
the sincere Protestants, who agree with you on this sub- 
ject, in a very awkward position, to have this Eoman 
Catholic member's speech to be thrown in our faces and 
quoted as the sentiments of the Eoman Catholics of Ire- 
land ? I venture to call your attention to it, and hope 
yon will excuse mj troubling you, and to subscribe 
myself. Your faitliful servant, 

William Fitzgerald. 

P. S. — This is private, but I think ought to be looked 
to. May I hope an answer ? If so, address Lord Wil- 
liam Fitzgerald, as above. 



APPENDIX 239 

MuLGRAVE Castle, November 25, 1848. 

/SVr,— I have received your letter of the 20th instant, 
with an accompanying address to the Queen from a 
meeting of the barony of Innishowen, held on the 7th 
of August, and which you state would have been sooner 
transmitted to me for presentation but for my absence 
abroad. I receive this request, as you say it was intended 
as an additional proof of the continued confidence and 
favorable recollection of the Irish People. For all which 
I assure you I feel ever grateful. 

The meeting appears to have been most numerously 
attended, and solely by persons connected with that part 
of the country. Believing many of the complaints, both 
general and local, to be well-founded, and making con- 
sequent allowance for, whilst regretting, some of the 
expressions used, I should have forwarded the address 
at once, through the constitutional channel, for presenta- 
tion to Her Majesty, but for one difficulty connected, not 
with the nature of the remedy proposed, but with the 
Prayer itself, which seems to me to be, that the Queen, 
by an exercise of the prerogative, should declare the 
Union void. This is advice which I feel that no minister, 
even if favorable to the Repeal of the Union, could give 
to a constitutional sovereign. 

This alone is the difficulty I feel in forwarding the 
address, unless you could explain away this impression. 
If the petitioners had only generously bespoken the sov- 
ereign's favorable consideration to the question of Eepcal, 
however widely I might differ from tliem in that wish, I 
should not have hesitated to have been the medium of 
conveying the grievances of the people to the foot of the 
throne. 



240 APPE^^)IX. 

I should have contented myself with repeating what I 
stated on an appropriate occasion dnring my government 
of Ireland, that to a meeting as numerous as that lately 
held at Buncrana, that " my decided opposition to a re- 
peal of the Union was founded upon, and in exact pro- 
portion to, my love for Ireland;" and I shall have been 
as well assured now as I was then, that my sincerity 
would not have been doubted bv those who differ from 
me, my conviction being that it would not realize any 
of the results you propose. But I added, at the same 
time, that '' the only assurance of a true union, must be 
perfect equahty on all subjects of legislation."' These 
opinions I still maintain, and to this latter state I am 
sure we must come. TTith this view, I hold it to be the 
first duty of every Englishman who takes part in pubhc 
affaire, even from the private station I now occupy, to 
lose no opportunity of pressing upon his countrymen the 
removal of all invidious distinctions still existing, which 
it is the height of injustice to refuse and would be no 
sacrifice to concede, and that, by doing substantial and 
speedy justice to Ireland, they alone can maintain the 
security of unit^ institutions, and thereby preserve the 
peace and prosperity of this great empire, happily com- 
mitted to the charge of our present gracious sovereign. 

Accept my best thanks for your personal expressions 
towards myself I am, Sir, your faithful servant, 

XORMA^'BY. 

Eev. Edward Marinn. 



MuLGRAVE Castle, Lecemherr 12. 
iSYr, — I have this day received your letter of the ^h 



APPENDIX. 241 

containing a farther explanation of the Innishowen ad- 
dress. I could not take upon myself to make any alter- 
ation in an address sent to me for presentation ; but as 
as you have, you say, the authority of the committee to 
whom was intrusted the charge of drawing it up, if you 
will make the substitution of the words you propose, as 
more accurately conveying the legitimate meaning, and 
freeing it from all appearance of the objection I had 
stated, I will then, upon its return to me, forward it for 
presentation, as (though I shall still depend from the 
prayer,) I shall feel that it is one perfectly competent for 
the petitioners to address to the throne. 

Thanking you again for your kind expressions to- 
wards myself, I am, sir, 



Yours faithfully, 



jSTormaxby. 



York, December IS, 1S47. 
Ify Dear Lord^ — At any time, and under ordinary cir- 
cumstances, the Bishops of Ireland, England and Scot- 
land, would have very good reason to look with serious 
apprehension at a representative from the Protestant 
Government of this country, being invited and going to 
transact business with the Holy See. "We are, however, 
not in ordinary, but in very pecuHar, extraordinary cir- 
cmnstances at this present time. We have, then, much 
greater reason to be filled with apprehension and, indeed, 
with alarm, at this step being taken at the present trying 
and critical conjuncture. Hence it has occurred to me, 
that we, the Bishops of this kingdom, as faithful walcli- 
11 



242 APPENDIX. 

men, ouglit not to delay to raise our warning voice, and, 
by a general and most respectful memorial, put at once 
His Holiness in possession both of the alarming fears that 
fill our minds at present, and of some of the grounds of 
our serious alarms. 

Hence I have thought it well to send your Lordship 
(soliciting your opinion thereon) the heads of our pro- 
posed memorial to His Holiness, setting forth our fears, 
and some of the grounds of those fears. And, of your 
Lordship, as an tish Bishop, may I be permitted, en 
passanfj to ask whether it be not morally certain that 
Lord Minto will notify to His Holiness, the general, but 
unjust cry of condemnation now daily echoed through 
both Houses of Parliament, and throughout this kingdom, 
against the Catholic priesthood of Ireland ? whether it 
is not probable that His Holiness may be induced to give 
some credit to these misrepresentations ; and also whether 
it be not possible for His Holiness, thus deceived, to send 
some document condemnatory of the conduct of the Irish 
Priests, or act upon that false information in some other 
way. Should His Holiness, thus deceived, be induced to 
send to Ireland such a document, your Lordship w^ell 
knows how destructive it must be both to the Papal 
authority in Ireland, and also destructive to the authority 
of the Catholic Bishops and Priests in Ireland, and how 
ruinous in Ireland to our Holy Eeligion. 1 have the 
honor, my dear Lord, to be with the most profound re- 
spect, and the kindest regards, your Lordship's humble 
and devoted servant, ►> John Briggs. 

Most Eev. Dr. Maginn. 

P. S. Please to give me your candid opinion by return 



APPENDIX. 243 

of post as to the sending of this proposed memorial, (the 
mere outline of which I have drawn), and also as to its 
contents, freely retrenching or adding to them whatever 
your Lordship may deem desirable. J. B. 

THE HEADS OF THE PROPOSED MEMORIAL TO HIS HOLINESS. 



From the Archhishops and Bisliops of Ireland and from the 

Bishops of England and Scotland : 

After a very humble and an apologizing introduction, 
we m^ight say, 

1. That Lord Minto is now in Rome, sent by the 
British Government to treat on ecclesiastical affairs with 
the Holy See. Vide Lord Landsdowne's speech in the 
House of Lords, 16th instant. 

2. That the diplomacy of British ministers is well known 
throughout the world, to be extremely cunning and subtle, 
and by these means they have, almost everywhere, gained 
their ends. 

3. That British diplomacy has been everywhere in- 
imical to our Holy Religion. 

4. That the British government has been, by every 
means, endeavoring for many years past to obtain a con- 
cordat with the Holy See, which w\as happily averted 
by Bishops, either of Ireland or England, being on the 
alert, and pointing out to the Holy See the deceptions prac- 
ticed, and the sad consequences that would result. 

5. That as they are now at the same work- again, we deem 
it our duty most respectfully to state that we feel exceed- 
ingly alarmed lest the Holy See be again deceived b}^ our 
civil government, the members of vvhich government ob- 



244 APPENDIX. 

serve the most marked secrecy at home, as to what pro- 
ceedingfs are 2:oinQ: on at Eome relative to our ecclesiastical 
aiiairs, though one of the leading ministers has just now 
avowed that they have received from Rome most useful 
information. 

6. That besides the marked secrecy just mentioned, 
what fills us with alarm is to see the conflicting conduct 
of Lord Minto at Eome, and the conduct in England of 
his son-in-law, the present prime minister of England. 
Lord Minto is doing all that his station and money can 
eflPect, to obtain, not only the good will of His Holiness 
and of those in authority in Eome, but even of the popu- 
lace of Eome, and also to obtain great ascendency tliere. 
Whilst at home Lord John Eussell is not only publicly 
declaring his hostility to the Catholic religion, as he 
avowed JLhe other day, in his public printed answers re- 
specting the appointment of Dr. Hampden to a Protest- 
ant Bishopric, but that he and his fellow ministers are 
continuing to persecute the Eegulars, Clergy and Laity, 
both in Ireland and England, acting still u]3 to what he 
(Lord Eussell) lately said in one of his works, that he 
considered the Eegulars no better than "sharpers." 

Such also is the present conduct of the ministers acting 
under Lord John Eussell. "When we look at the conduct 
of our civil government at home, totally opposed to the 
conduct of its representative at Eome, have we not every 
reason to be filled with the most serious suspicion and 
alarm ? 

7. Another cause of our serious alarm is the very long 
continued hostile conduct of our Protestant government 
towards the Cathohc religion in this kingdom. When a 
bloody persecution for nearly three hundred years could 



APPENDIX. 245 

not extinguisli our religion here, and the penal laws be- 
gan to be partially repealed ; from that period to the pre- 
sent time, and at the present time it is perfectly notorious 
to all in Britain, that the British government does leave 
nothing nnattempted to tmdermine our holy Church. 
We should feel happy to specify what these various at- 
tempts to undermine our holy religion have been and 
now are, should your Holiness call for this information 
from us. At present we beg leave merely to point at the 
out^geous calumny now vociferated by the present gov- 
ernment, and the members of Parliament against the Irish 
priests, falsely charging them with being the abettors of 
the horrible crime of murder. 

And further, my Lords, I believe that there is no court 
in Europe in which it would be more useful for the British 
government to explain the nature of our transactions; or 
to induce that court to use its peculiar sources of influence in 
certain parts of Her Majesty's dor)%inions,- — London Morning 
Post, Dec. 15, 1847. Vide Tablet, Dec, 18, 1847. 



THOMAS STEELE, ESQ., TO DR. MAGINI^. 

Nenagh, County Tipperary^ December 24, 1847.* 
My Dear and Venerated Lord : 

I have read your almost miraculous letter to Scorpion 
Stanley, with admiration and with astonishment. 

* Mr. Steele writes, as will be inferred in relation to Dr. Maginn's 
" Letters to Lord Stanley," in justiGcation of the Confessional, as an 
institution preventive of agragrian crime among the peasantry of 
Ireland. His style is his own ; his veracity as to matters of fact was 
/lever questioned. 



246 APPKNDIX. 

That letter is '^ a voice as the voice of many waters, as 
the voice of a multitude, as the voice of God !'^ 

I most reverentially pray your Lordship's permission to 
send you a late number of the Tipperary Vindicator j and 
after you shall have read the passages I have marked, 
I trust your Lordship will deem that I only perform a com- 
mon-place social duty : that of not by wilful silence bearing 
false witness against my neighbor, when I can give testi- 
mony, the result of actual knowledge, in his favor. 

Although withdrawn from political agitation sinc^the 
death of my august and beloved friend and leader, I feel it 
to be a duty privately to come forward to give your Lord- 
ship what I believe to be evidence of a very original and 
overAvhelming character, as my position was unique in Ire- 
land, with respect to the conduct of the Catholic Clergy, of 
wiiich I had an opportunity of being an intense observer. 

I am, as your Lordship will condescend to recollect, a 
Protestant, and a member of the Senate of an English Pro- 
testant University ; but as O'ConnelPs seconder, at the 
Clare elections of 1828 and '29, and his Head-Pacificator 
of Ireland since the autumn of the latter year, I have had 
more expansive and confidential inter-communion Avith the 
Catholic Clergy of Ireland, in Ulster, Leinster, Munster and 
Connaught, and with the Catholic Peasantry, while in a state 
of agrarian insubordination and outrage, than any Protest- 
ant who ever lived. 

Judge Burton while passing sentence of imprisonment 
upon the august father of his country, volunteered the ad- 
mission, that he firmly believed that ^' Mr. O'Connell was 
anxious to keep the peace of the country, and that he did 
keep it.^^ 



APPENDIX. 247 

I have been at noontide and midnight among Terry Alts, 
Lady Clares, Whitefeet, and reviving Rockites ; and after 
I left the Richmond Prison among Molly Maguires and 
Tipperary men — and T now proceed to prove how well- 
grounded was the atrocious and revolting lie of Scorpion 
Stanley, and therefore pray with profound reverence per- 
mission to give your Lordship the rationale of a Protestant 
pacificator^s mode of producing tranquillization, by the 
analogy^ of course I do not say identity, of his relation to 
the Catholic Priest at the Confessional. 

Instead of diffusing the subject over several cases, I select 
one as an illustration, but that is a very remarkable one. 

In the year 1831, during the time of the Terry Alt insur- 
rection in Clare, Jones, Gleeson and Hogan, dressed in fe- 
male attire, with painted faeces, and bonnets on their heads, 
shot an unfortunate herdsman near Cratloe Wood, and then 
in open day, danced with their guns in their hands a reel 
round the body of their slaughtered victim. 

In some time after Jones gave me up his gun in Cratloe 
Wood, about midnight, on an occasion when I was out in 
the execution of my duty as O'Connell's Head Pacificator 
of Ireland. 

I was accompanied in my work of peace over the moun- 
tain side, by my lamented friend, the late Rev. Dr. Fitz- 
gerald of Cratloe, and by a young gentleman, then a divinity 
student of Maynooth, and now a Catholic clergyman, the 
Rev. Mr. Considine. 

Well, I went to England after the pacification of Clare, 
and returned in 1882 ; and in the spring of 1833 I was 
sent by my bemoaned leader among the Kilkenny White- 
feet. 



248 APPENDIX 

After the repression of that outbreak I returned to Clare, 
my native county. 

In some time after I heard that Jones had committed an- 
other savage murder.^ and I sent him word that I wished to 
meet him. 

We did naeet him at midnight in Tradree ; I was ac- 
companied by Mr. Considine, still a student. 

I whistled J and Jones came out of a brake of bushes. 

On his meeting me, I said^ '' Jones, do you remember the 
night when you gave me up your gun in Cratloe Wood, and 
the conversation I had with you when we were walking alone, 
Father Fitzgerald and Mr. Considine being at some distance 
before us, on the night when I got up so much arms on the 
mountain V^ 

He replied, '' I do remember it very well, Sir.'^ 

I then said, " Well, as you do, you must recollect that you 
asked me what agreement had been made by the Lord 
Lieutenant when he was in Ennis ?" 

I told you that " the arrangement made by his Lordship, 
Dr. McMahon, with the Marquis of Anglesea, was this : — 
that any of the Terry Alts and Lady Clares who committed 
only the ordinary outrage of the country, and who, after 
giving up their arms should return to courses of peace and 
order, would not be disturbed ; — but for those who had com- 
mitted murder J or any crime of that kind, there could be no 
hope of mercy." 

I then said to him, " The fact is, Jones, I then knew who 
you were as well as I do now ; though 1 did not seem to 
know it, but my business was to get arms out of the Terries' 
hands, and to save them if I could. 

" I thought that after this solemn warning, you would try 



APPENDIX 249 

to make your escape to America, or to some other country, 
where, by a life of penitence, you would try to make atone- 
ment for whatever you had done wrong at home — but now, 
after two years, I find you with the blood of another man 
upon your soul F' 

'^ Where is this to end, Jones ; are you to murder every 
man that you take it into your head intends to give informa- 
tion against you V^ 

" From me you well 'know that you are as safe as from 
your own Priest at the Confessional ; for I told the Terry 
Alts J and Lady Clares in this county ^ and the Whitefeet in 
Kilkenny^ that although I am a Protestant^ they shoidd he as 
safe in talking with me^ as in making a Confession in the 
Chapel to their own Clergy ^ 

This, my venerated Lord Bishop, is the moral analogy I 
have alluded to ; — and let any one show me the living man, 
or the man who ever lived in Ireland, who being in the 
closest co-operation with the Catholic Clergy, and using 
the magic name of O'Connell as his talismanic spell, did so 
much as I did, to preserve, or to restore the peace of Ire- 
land. 

The Catholic Clergy are, as your Lordship well knows, 
in every part of Ireland w^onder-workers, by legitimate 
means — without the violation of the sanctity of the Confes- 
sional, in preventing murder and other crime. 

When I was in this county in 1845, I was reviled as a 
'' Thug'' by the Evening Packet^ because I did not trans- 
mute myself into an Informer ! 

There is very much more of deep interest interwoven 
with the story of Jones — but I abstain from over-laying this 
communication to your Lordship with more matters than arc 
11* 



250 APPENDIX. 

absolutely necessary for the purpose of demonstrating not 
merely by absolute facts, but by ethical analogy in the case 
of a Protestant^ the inestimable value of the sanctified 
secresy of the Confessional, in preventing or repressing of 
Irish crime ; — of crime in retribution for other ghastly crime, 
committed by perpetrators who ought to possess moral illu- 
mination superior to that of the Irish frize-coated peasant. 

One incident I must not omit. 

Before meeting Jones the second time, I went specially 
to the Palace of my illustrious and ever-lamented friend, 
that glorious Prelate, Doctor M'Mahon, the Catholic Lord 
Bishop of Killaloe, and told him I was that night going to 
meet Jones the murderer, to try, if I could, to divert him 
from his course of crime. 

His sanctified Lordship, not only condescended to express 
his fervid approbation of my work of peace, and preventing 
multiplied murder, but he gave me his benediction on my 
retiring from his presence. 

I may as well mention what Jones said to me that night, 
when he declared that he did not intend to be a second time 
a homicide : 

'' I did not intend to kill him, Mr. Steele ; I had reason 
to think that he was preparing to give information against 
me, and I wanted to frighten him by giving him a terrible 
beating. If I wanted to kill him, Sir,'^ continued he, taking 
a brace of pistols from his breast pockets and displaying 
them to Mr. Considine and me, '' I could have killed him 
very easily. '^ 

I pray leave to conclude by stating that when I went on 
my three missions of peace into Ulster, it was solely to warn 
the Catholics not to interfere with the intended marching 



APPENDIX, 251 

of the Orangemen, then recently legalized by the expia- 
tion of the Processions Act. 

Wishing your Lordship, from my heart, many and very 
happy returns of Christmas and New Years, I have the 
honor to remain, your Lordship's most sincere and faithful 
servant and friend, Thomas Steele. 

The Catholic Lord Bishop of Derry. 



My Dear Sir^ — I have read with much attention the 
terms for a re-union of Eepealers, and am happy to have 
to say that they are such as to meet with my unqualified 
approval. I fondly hope that no obstructions will be 
thrown in the way of a cordial, perfect reconciliation 
between all sections of Eepealers. It is the one thing 
necessary for us. Division has ever been the curse of 
our country ; and what we are, the most miserable peo- 
ple on earthj we would not have been, were it not for 
our foolish, our wicked altercations. Fortunately for 
us, we can now unite without any compromise of princi- 
ple ; recent events have removed the ground of difference, 
and have made the feelings and duties of all parties 
identical. We have not now much left of our constitu- 
tion to contend about. Indeed, for my own part, during 
my mission in Ireland, I but seldom had the gratifica- 
tion of seeing its beautiful theory practically and benefi- 
cially illustrated. Three-fourths of our people were 
placed beyond its pale, and depended for life and liberty 
on the nod of some village lord, who was as much an 
autocrat as the Emperor of liussia. There was neither 



252 APPENDIX. 

law nor justice for them. The only liberty they en- 
joyed was the liberty to pay rack-rent, to kiss the rod 
that scourged them, to worship the taskmaster, and to 
peacefully starve after, amidst the abundance produced 
by their own labor. A beautiful constitution, indeed, 
and proud we should be to have it, with our desolate 
harbors, our millions of acres of waste lands, and our 
millions unemployed ; our merchants bankrupt ; our 
farmers, if left the name, beggars ; the best, the bravest 
of our countrymen rotting in heaps on the shores of 
the stranger; the remainder, for the most part, gaunt 
spectres, flitting over the richest, the loveliest land on 
earth ; the country covered with the ruins of levelled vil- 
lages ; the ruthless exterminator, protected in his savage 
onslaught by the ^' horse'' and foot of this blessed con- 
stitution in the enforcement of his rights against every- 
thing which Christianity, if not a mockery, makes a duty ; 
candor and truth made treason, love of country a felony ; 
the seven-eighths of Irishmen deemed unworthy of cre- 
dit on their oaths, and at every elbow a spy or in- 
former, under the bland name of a detective — such char- 
acters as Plautus, with a master-hand, delineates. The 
seal of faith, under which friends correspond with 
friends, and confidingly pour into each others' souls the 
secrets of their hearts, is every day unblushingly broken, 
and which to violate would make even the barbarian 
shudder ; the whole country a garrison — tens of thou- 
sands, horse, foot and artillery, ingloriously watching 
the convulsions and writhings of the starving victims 
of misrule, lest the slightest symptom of disaffection 
should go unnoticed or unpunished ; millions, in a word, 



APPENDIX. 253 

of our children, kinsmen, neighbors, all our country- 
men, consigiied to their coffinless graves ; mothers, 
through rabid hunger, devouring their own children, 
and children hanging from the breasts of their dead 
mothers, and all the while my Lord Lansdowne boasts, 
in the face of an astonished world, of the happiness of 
the Irish people living under such a constitution, and 
congratulates himself and his noble colleagues on the 
more than celestial manner in which they had discharged 
their duty to Ireland. Let us, Sir, leave this beautiful 
constitution to those who enjoy it, and combine, as 
Christians should ever combine, heart and soul, to save, 
if possible, our country. There is no need for disputing 
about what the malice of men has made for us, '' a 
mockery, a delusion and a snare." Let us unite to make 
the name a reality, to make fiction truth, and give a 
substantial being to what has hitherto been to us the 
poisonous, blighting shade of an upas-tree. It would be 
a pity, Sir, to keep such men as Messrs. O'Connell and 
O'Brien asunder. Their every sympathy is with their 
native land — their hearts beat responsive. Why should 
not their energies be linked together for the regeneration 
of that country to which they both are so warmly and 
so devotedly attached. Let the past be generously for- 
gotten and forgiven, and let the future be a cordial, 
united effort to lead the Irish people onward to a peace- 
ful triumph. I here, Sir, merely echo the sentiments of 
every man, lay and ecclesiastical, with whom I have 
lately conversed, on this subject. All declare for a re- 
union of Eepealers, because disunion has made us the 
pity of our friends and the scorn of our enemies ; be- 



254 APPEXDIX 

cause every man who hates Irehand and writes against 
it, dreads and protests against this union ; because dis- 
united we exhibit to the world, and especially to the 
Government, our weakness, and thereby tempt them to 
use the favorite w^eapon of the tyrant — coercion ; be- 
cause disunited we cannot aid them to carry out any 
good intentions, if they have anj^ in favor of our coun- 
try ; because Heaven, whose law is union, order and 
peace, never yet blessed disunion ; because, in a word, 
they believe that union alone can save the country from 
convulsion, from civil war, ^ "^ [MS. unfinished.] 



EOMAj^ COliPtESPOSDEJfCE. 

EoME, January 1, 1848. 
My Lord, — ^I received your Lordship's kind letter after 
I had set out on my road to the Eternal City. This 
\yas the reason that impeded me from answering you 
ere now. I regretted very much not to have been able 
to visit Derry. I am, however, extremely grateful to 
your Lordship for your kind invitation, and I would, I 
am sure, have been delighted with the North, had I had 
time to enjoy your hospitality, but the winter was ad- 
vancing so rapidly that I thought it necessary to get to 
the South, lest at a later period I should be impeded 
altoo:ether from travellins;. Here in Rome I find all 
things quiet. The Pope is well, and going on calmly and 
determinedly with his reforms. The great bulk of the 
people are with him ; but there are some who are greatly 
adverse to any changes, and there is a small but violent 
faction which would drive things to extremities. This 
faction is very active; they have all the newspapers, 
and they expressed the greatest delight at the destruc- 
tion of the Catholics of Switzerland. They are as bad 
as the old French demagogues, or as our own Orange- 
men. They will give the Pope a thousand times more 
trouble than the Austrians ; however, I trust Uis Holi- 
ness will be able to keep them in order. If they once 
get the upper hand, we shall have sad work in Italy. I 



256 APPENDIX. 

dare say the EDglish agents are encouraging this faction. 
They are bad enough to do anything. Lord Minto is 
still in Eome. There is do doubt but that his object in 
remaining here is to open diplomatic relations with 
Eome. How far he will succeed is as yet uncertain ; 
but if Parliament revokes the old laws against commu- 
nications with the Pope, I dare say an ambassador will 
be sent immediately. The English here are most busy 
in circulating the usual calumnies against the Irish 
clergy ; they even carried their accusations to the Pope. 
After my return from Ireland, His Holiness sent for me 
and questioned me on the matter. I explained every- 
thing to him, and he remained perfectly satisfied. He 
is warmly attached to poor Ireland. The object of the 
English appears to be to destroy that sympathy which 
the famine of last year excited everywhere in favor of 
our country, and at the same time to poison the minds 
of the authorities here in such a way as to dispose them 
to hand over the Irish clergy to the tender mercies of 
state management. I think they will not succeed in 
Eome ; but they have bribed all the newspapers of Eu- 
rope to propagate their lies. Well, we must console 
ourselves with the promise of our Saviour, Beati estis 
cum vos cahcmniarif 

I believe Lord Minto attempted to speak to His Holi- 
ness about the College question, but the Pope stopped 
him, and said that that was a spiritual matter, which 
was between himself and the Bishops. His Holiness 
appears quite pleased with the decision he gave. 

I believe I did not express myself sufficiently clearly 
in my last regarding the pastoral ; what I meant was 



APPENDIX. . 257 

that your Lordship should publish something in your 
name to the people of Derry regarding the Pope, just as 
the French Bishops have done in their respective dio- 
ceses. If your Lordship would do something in that 
way, it would have a good effect not only at home but 
here in Italy. It is necessary to support the Pope, to 
show that he should be kept independeht both of des- 
potic powers and of popular parties, in order to govern 
the Church as he ought. 

I never undertook to write the address against prosly- 
tism ; the thing would have been useful, but the arrival 
of the condemnation of the colleges made the Bishops 
forget it. Eev. Mr. Dooley engaged to get some one to 
write, but the matter was neglected. 

Excuse, mj Lord, the haste with which I have writ- 
ten these lines. If you publish the letter to your peo- 
ple on the Pope's authority and independence, be so 
good as to send us a copy. I have the honor to be, with 
profound respect. 

Your devoted, obedient servant, 

Paul Cullen. 

P. S. An English gentleman translated your letter 
on tenant-right to show that you were violent. See 
what mischief they are intent on. 



April 8, 1848. 
My Lord^ — I am sorry that I have only a moment to 
write you a line. I gave the substance of your Lord- 
ship's letter to Ilis Holiness. He said that you would 
know his sentiments from the letter lie had sent to the 



258 . APPENDIX. 

Bishop. I hope that letter ha^ not been lost ; it was 
posted on the 29th of February and entered, so if lost it 
can be traced out. 

Here things are quiet still, but there is great excite- 
ment — all the Italians are in arms to drive out the Aus- 
trians. The Pope's troops have entered Lombardy. God 
grant things may end well. The Austrians deserve to be 
chastised as they were great enemies of the liberty of the 
Church. I hope Russia too will be punished, and Eng- 
land that she may be converted and live. 

Lord Minto is expected in Eome to-day — ^lie will not 
be able to do much mischief The Italians in general are 
now against English influence. They have more reliance 
on the French. I think Lord Minto's money was thrown 
away in buying popularity. He will get no more ap- 
plause from the people. 

Excuse this hasty scroll. I will write more at length 
by next post. 

I have the honor to be with profoundest respect, your 
devoted obedient servant, Paul Cullen". 



EoME, May 8, 1848. 
My Lord^ — I write a line, and a hurried one, to your 
Lordship, to inform you about the state of things here. 
The two Bishops arrived here, and had a most satisfac- 
tory interview v/ith the Pope. He is a real friend to 
Ireland, and I think he will actively defend the cause 
of our Church. The Eev. Dr. Ennis has just arrived. 
His mission is to get the statutes of the colleges ap- 
proved. No one as yet has seen them. I hope he will 
not be able to make any fmpression. 



APPENDIX. 259 

The state of things in Rome is very sad. You are 
aware of all the revolutionary movements that have 
taken place in Lombardy. The people of tlie Pope's 
states sympathized very deeply with their brethren of 
the North, and many volunteers set out to join them. 
The Pope's troops, too, were so enthusiastic in the cause, 
that their general could not impede them from crossing 
the Po and entering the Austrian dominions. When 
things were at this stage, the radical and violent party 
here called on the Pope to declare war on Austria. The 
Pope answered in a magnificent allocution of the 29th 
April, declaring that it was not his intention to assail 
any power, that he was the minister of the God of 
peace^ and that he could not desire war. However, he 
did not say a word against the Italian movement, nor 
against his own subjects for having entered Lombardy. 
The radical party, which is tlie same that was encouraged 
in Switzerland and elsewhere by England, became fu- 
rious after the Pope's allocution, and we were on the 
point of having a civil war in the city. Several cardi- 
nals were arrested, and the Pope himself threatened by 
the mob. Things, remained in this way for one or two 
daj^s. The Pope acted most courageously ; he addressed 
the people, and threatened to use his spiritual powers 
against his assailant. The conduct and determination 
of the Pope overawed the radicals, and things have re- 
turned again to their usual tranquillity. It is hard to 
know how long they will remain quiet. The clubs arc 
at work, and they can conjure up a storm any day tliey 
wish. The great bulk of the people of Pome are for 
the Pope, but they arc passive and not organized ; the 



260 APPENDIX. 

radicals are connected with those of Switzerland, en- 
couraged by foreign influence, and well organized, 
though not numerous. I hope the people of Ireland 
will pray for His Holiness, and speak out in his defence. 
I wish your Lordship would write a good address to 
them on the matter, and explain the necessity of keep- 
ing the Holy Father independent. The public opinion 
of the world does a great deal. 

I regret very much you did not come. It is the wish 
of His Holiness that the Bishops should hold their next 
meeting in a synodical form. The majority will then be 
able to do something eflS.cacious. It is the only way to 
impede further aggressions. 

I received your Lordship's letter, and then one from 
the Cardinal. His Eminence will not think much of 
Dr. Nicholson now. 

The Jesuits were obliged to leave the Eoman College 
about a week ago. The Radical faction here is making 
active attempts to get possession of it, and to make it a 
lay establishment, in order the more easily to propagate 
their errors and revolutionary doctrines. The Pope has 
resisted them very decidedly, and the college is given to 
the secular clergy, if they will be able to keep in pos- 
session. The war here is the same now as in Ireland — - 
the bad faction wishes to get hold of the public educa- 
tion. Dr. McHale and Dr. Higgins beg to be remem- 
bered to you. Dr. Kirby also desires his best respects. 

I was very happy to hear that your convent was go- 
ing on. It will be a blessing to Derr3^ The good nuns 
effect more good than can be done by any other class of 



APPENDIX. 261 

people. Excuse haste, and. believe me to be, with pro- 
foundest respect and veneration^ 

Your devoted, obedient servant, 

Paul Cullen. 

Having written these lines at difterent times, you will 
find several repetitions. You must excuse them, as not 
true to copy. 

I am at present in the Propaganda College, but I ex- 
pect to get back in a short time. The Jesuits had charge 
of the Propaganda ; but having been obliged to yield 
to the mob; the Cardinal Prefect requested me to take 
the management of the place for a while. I could not 
refuse. 

If your Lordship will read the 243d letter of St. Ber- 
nard — it is addressed to the Eomans — you will find an 
accurate account of the present state of things. The 
Popes have had their troubles in every century. Pius 
VII. had his share; Pius IX. cannot be expected to get 
off without them, but they always triumph. Tu es Fe- 
trus. 

P. S. I hope the clergy will be able to keep the peo- 
ple quiet. England must yield something very soon, 
but it would be deplorable to have a civil war. What 
a loss O'Connell is now ! However, his principles ought 
to be maintained. Civil war and revolutions destroy 
religion. 



Irish College, Rome, May 28, 1848. 
My Bear Lord^ — In my letter of the 23d of this month 
I gave your Lordship a general idea of tlic contents of Dr. 



262 APPENDJX. 

Ennis' pamphlet regarding tlie " corrected statutes," for the 
Infidel Colleges. He has labored to have these statutes 
approved of b}^ the Holy See, and the Pope's condemnation 
of the Colleges revoked, entirely regardless of the opinions 
of the great majority of the Irish Bishops ; but, thank God, 
in this respect he has been signally defeated. A copy of 
his pamphlet, of the corrected statutes, &c., will forthwith 
be furnished by Rome to every Prelate in Ireland, asking 
his opinion on the subject, and thus the dangerous intrigues 
of a heretical viceroy and his ecclesiastical abettors will be 
laid bare before Catholic Ireland. Let us hope that hence- 
forth no man will attempt to treat with government on a 
subject affecting our whole body, without first obtaining our 
explicit consent. The Archbishop of Tuam and myself 
intend to reply in our own names to Dr. Ennis' pamphlet, 
unfolding its sophistry and reiterating our reprobation of 
the Colleges. We have no doubt that when your Lordship 
sees this pamphlet, you will, in the soundness of your judg- 
ment and in your anxiety for the preservation of the faith, 
repeat your condemnation of these insidious and most dan- 
gerous institutions. In my anxiety that your Lordship 
should, without delay, have a clear notion of the leading 
features of the pamphlet, I beg leave to submit the follow- 
ing observations : 

1. Lord Clarendon in his letter to Dr. Murray affects to 
look upon him as the organ of the Episcopacy, nor does it 
appear that his Grace declines acting in that capacity. 

2. He gives Dr. Murray the whole of the College sta- 
tutes, and lends but a very few extracts to the Pope and 
the Propaganda ! Both his Grace and Lord Clarendon ap- 
pear familiar with pre-existing statutes of which the body of 



APPENDIX. 263 

the Prelates have no cognizance whatever. His Excellency 
excuses himself for not having furnished Dr. Murray with 
the corrected statutes at an earlier day, by stating that the 
•whole attention of the government was absorbed in efficiently 
relieving all the distress of the Irish poor ! 

3. The corrected statutes, as they are termed, change 
nothing substantial in the Act — can themselves be changed 
by any other viceroy, and though passed into law by Parlia- 
liament, would not afford the least protection to Catholic 
faith or morals, as they leave all the appointments of the 
professors and other officers to the will and caprice of a 
heretical monarch. Such are the flimsy and insulting safe- 
guards which Dr. Ennis and his Grace of Dublin think 
quite sufficient to protect our Catholic youth and our holy 
religion in Ireland, against the power, the wealth, the 
bigotry, the proverbial treachery of heretical England. Dr. 
Ennis has presented his pamphlet to the' Pope and the 
Cardinal perfect. It ends with a commentary from himself, 
recommendatory of the statutes and the colleges. Of this 
commentary I may say, in general terms, that it is sophistical, 
insulting, lying and calumnious, of the Irish Bishops, Priests 
and people. It states that it is very proper and wise to 
leave all the appointments in the hands of the crown, as the 
Catholic Bishops might otherwise appoint their own political 
favorites, or persons totally incapable of fulfilling »their re- 
spective duties ! 

4. That for the last thirty or forty years every Act of Par- 
liament passed for Ireland had in vicAV the protection and pro- 
pagation of the Catholic religion in that country ; and that 
it was necessary to leave the whole direction of the Colleges 
with the crown, to guard against the unmeaning stubbornness 



264 APPENDIX. 

with which the Irish Bishops would oppose the plans of 
every possible government. 

5. That the government will and ought to proceed with 
the Colleges, despite of all episcopal, priestly, or lay op-. 
4)Osition5 in order to educate the Catholic youth of Ireland 

in a manner worthy of the true principles of the Catholip, 
religion. 

6. That all the lay Catholics of Ireland are panting for 
the completion of the Colleges — that they will rush to them 
in crowds, profoundly grateful to their generous founders. 

7- That the government bountifully distributes £100,000 
a year, chiefly between the Catholic Bishops, for the educa- 
tion of their poor — gives £26,000 annually to Maynooth — 
that too much lay Catholic confidence in religious matters 
should not be placed in such a government, is too puerile to 
merit a reply. 

8. The commentary closes by stating that in no country 
in the world is the Catholic religion so protected by govern- 
ment as in Ireland — that we must not be squeamish in look- 
ing for " optimism" and insinuates in a menacing tone that 
whatever the Pope, Cardinals, or Bishops may do, the gov- 
ernment and the people of Ireland will successfully carry out 
the glorious principles of the Colleges ! What will the pure 
faith and simple piety of Catholic Ireland say to this impious 
and monstrous lie ? Is there a parish in the kingdom whose 
priests and people will not at once assemble, and in a series 
of plain resolutions tell 'Rome and the world their real opin- 
ions of the Colleges and their patrons ? This is a duty so 
obvious and so urgent that I shall not insult your Lordship 
by recommending its performance. Dr. MacHale and I are 
? opinion that when Ennis' pamphlet comes to hand, a joint 



APPENDIX. 265 

reply from the orthodox Prelates of Ulster would prevent 
any apparent discrepancy that might appear in individual 
answers. This reply should be forwarded to Rome as soon as 
possible. The Archbishop of Tuam concurs in every sen- 
timent I here express^ and I must trouble your Lordship to 
have accurate copies of this letter written out and forwarded 
without delay to every Prelate in Ulster, who entertains our 
opinion on the Colleges question.- His Grace writes to the 
provinces of Munster and Oonnaught on this subject, and 
begs me to present his affectionate regards. Dr. Nicholson 
is expected daily. He is the bearer of some intriguing 
documents, so that we are likely to be kept busy. 

►^ W. O'HiGGINS. 



Irish College, Eome, June 18, 1848. 

My Lord^ — T write one line to say that Dr. Ennis has 
presented to the Propaganda the corrections which have 
been made in the system of the godless Colleges. The 
Cardinal has determined to send to each bishop a copy 
of this document, in order that each person may make 
his remarks on the case. There appears to be no sort 
of protection for the Catholic religion in the new regula- 
tions. A few words in reply to them will be enough. 
Dr. MacHale is anxious that an answer should be sent 
as soon as possible. Write to the other Bishops, and 
get them to reply without delay. 

In Eome we are very quiet. The Pope declared, and 

declares, that he will not have war Avith any one ; the 

ministry that has usurped the power is carrying on war 

most actively. The object of some of those who are 

12 



266 APPENDIX. 

engaged in this business seems to be to destroy the pro- 
perty of the Church. If they can keep on the war for 
the present year, it will absorb all the Church property 
of those States. The Pope now has little or no author- 
ity ; the ministry is acting as it wishes. There are two 
governments here — the Pope and his ministry. Things 
will not remain much longer so. There will be a re-ac- 
tion in favor of the Pope^ and things will be right again. 
The arms of the Italians have been very unsuccessful in 
Lombardy. 

Excuse the shortness of this scroll, which I send by 
hand. I have the honor to be, with profoundest respect, 
Your devoted, obedient servant, 

Paul Culleist. 
Eight Eev. Dr. Maginn, &c. 



Irish College, Eome, Septemher 5, 1848. 
My Lord^ — I beg to inclose a few lines which His Ho- 
liness Avished to write in reply to the letter Avhich you 
inclosed to Dr. Kirby. I translated for him a portion 
of your letter to Dr. Kirby, in which you spoke of the 
affairs of Eome. He was so much gratified with it, that 
he ordered the Secretary to write you a line in return. 
The extract of your letter was published in the Roman 
Journal of the 29th of August. I hope you will pub- 
lish the pastoral address, of which Dr. Kirby wrote to 
you. It will be gratifying to His Holiness to see distant 
Bishops take an interest in his welfare, and to learn that 
he has the support of the most distant churches. At 
the same time such an address will rouse the spirit of 
the Catholics, not only at home but abroad. 



APPENDIX. 267 

In Eome we have been rather quiet for the last few 
weeks. The great mass of the people is for the Pope, 
but the young Italians are bold and organized, and 
though few in number, they can keep everything in 
confusion. I dare say there are not more than fourteen 
or fifteen hundred such gentlemen in Eome, and still 
they have been able to keep everything in disorder, and 
to put the Pope at defiance for the last six months. I 
believe there is no great danger of a revolution. The 
people might be roused to action, if anything violent 
were attempted against the Pope. Several times mat- 
ters appeared quite ripe for a change of government; 
but after a few days' noise, things settled down again. 
However, the Pope has not that freedom or indepen- 
dence of action which would be necessary for him, in 
order to manage the affairs of the universal Church. 
This would be a thing to be insisted on in any address, 
that the Pope must be kept independent not only of 
soverei2:ns or foreio^n States, but also he must not be 
swayed in his spiritual capacity by his own unruly sub- 
jects. 

Some of the young Italians are now endeavoring to 
propagate Protestantism in Italy. They were displeas- 
ed with the Pope for not declaring war on the Austrian s. 
They wish now to revenge themselves by promoting 
heresy. The Pope mentioned this fact last Sunday in an 
address, which he delivered at the church of S. Pantalio, 
when publishing the decree for the beatification of the 
Jesuit Father Claver. The young Italians, or Italian 
liberals, are showing a very bad spirit. Their ellbrts to 
promote Protestantism will have no effect. 



268 APPENDIX. 

I will now mention a circumstance which is to be 
entre nous. The Pope told a prelate the other day that 
wdien Lord Minto was here, he spoke to His Holiness 
about pensioning the Irish clergy, and begged of him to 
interfere to induce the clergy to accept the favors of gov- 
ernment. The Pope said he could not think of doing 
so ; but if the matter be left to me, I will make a pro- 
posal which ought to appear reasonable to Government, 
and I will pledge myself to induce the Irish to accept it. 
Minto said he would be very happy to hear the project. 
The Pope replied that the Irish Catholic Church w^as 
formerly very rich. Eestore half the property of which 
they were stripped, the Catholics will absolve you from 
the restitution of the remainder, and let things be thus 
settled. Lord Minto said in return, that the Queen 
would consent to lose the last jewel of her crown, rather 
than entertain such a proposal. After this conversation 
Lord Minto never spoke any more about pensioning the 
clergy. If the project should be proposed by Grovern- 
ment, perhaps some simih^r proposal would have the 
effect of turning the thoughts of our rulers to some other 
matter, and make them forget so dangerous a scheme as 
that of pensioning the clergy. 

I fear you must be all in a sad way in Ireland. "What 
will the poor people do if the potatoes fail ? I hope 
God and the Blessed Virgin will protect them. There 
is some talk that His Holiness will define or declare the 
doctrine of the Immaculate Conception on the 8th of 
December next. A great number of Bishops from 
every part of the world have petitioned him to do so. 
I wish the Irish Bishops w^ould join the petition. It 



APPENDIX. 269 

might be the means of gaining protection for poor Ire- 
land. We want a powerful intercessor. 

Drs. Machale and O'Higgins have written a long an- 
swer to Dr. Bnnis. They have crushed the poor man. 
He will get little thanks for his migsion. There is no 
doubt but that the former decree of the Propaganda will 
be confirmed. The Pope himself has a similar contest 
here in his own states. The young Italians want to 
shake off all independence from the clergy in matters 
of education. The Pope has determined to support the 
rights of the clergy. He must do the same in Ireland. 
Dr. Kirby desires to be remembered to you. He is at 
Tivolij with the Irish. I am at the ancient Tusculum 
with the students of the Propaganda. I expect to get 
back to the Irish College very soon, as the affairs of 
Eome will probably allow the Jesuits to return. At all 
events, I could not remain in the Pr5paganda. I have 
not strength enough for a very laborious office. 

I hope your nerves are getting on well. It is a glo- 
rious thing to see religion triumphing in the strongholds 
of heresy, notwithstanding all the difficulties of the 
times. The nuns, when once properly established, will 
be a great blessing to Derry. I beg you will have the 
kindness to acknowledge the receipt of His Holiness' 
letter. I have the honor to be, with profoundest re- 
spect, your devoted, obedient servant, 

Paul Cullen. 



Irish College, Rome, September 14, 1848. 
My Bear Lord^ — Your Lordship's kind letter of the 26th 



270 APPENDIX. 

of August reached me here in due time. I was delighted 
in reading every portion of it, but more particularly that 
which 'had reference to your communication to the Holy 
Father. Such documents are calculated to do great service 
to the cause of truth, and yours has given much satisfaction 
to His Holiness. We have at length left our final expose 
in print with the Pope and the Cardinals. The case will be 
discussed on the 25th of this month in a full congregation, 
and the opinion of their Eminences will be laid before the 
Pope on the following Sunday. "Pendente ZeTZ^e," it would 
be rash to speak with absolute certainty ; still I venture to 
say, the decision will be fully to our wishes. You can 
scarcely conceive the unjustifiable means resorted to by our 
blind and unprincipled opponents. Everything that sys- 
tematic lying, or British intrigue, as well as the base con- 
duct of false brethren could efiect, was called unscrupulously 
into requisition ; but the justice of the cause and the prayers 
of the faithful, have, so far, baffled our enemies and left us 
high in the ascendant. All will depend on the Pope's Placet 
of the 25th. May it be inspired by the Holy Ghost ! 

Your next meeting will be of transcendent importance, 
and I ardently hope that your Lordship and the other 
worthy Prelates of the Province will be in Dublin several 
days before the general assembling of the Prelates. This 
will be absolutely necessary in order to make due prepara- 
tions to meet the common enemy. Probably you will be 
assailed by menaces, flattery, or delusive promises, and all 
must be opposed with discernment, courage and perseverance. 
It would be well, if not necessary, to express deep sym- 
pathy with the calummated, persecuted and half-starved 
Irish people, as also with His Holiness in his great difficul- 



APPENDIX. 271 

ties. As to the claims of the truth-telling, high-minded, 
and 'paternal Whigs on the approval, direct or indirect, of 
the Irish clergy, the extent of such claims will be found in 
their government of Ireland for tho last three years. Bold 
speaking should be the order of the day, and " no sur- 
render'^ our watchword. The more firmly you express 
your opinions, the more will you be approved of here. In 
every sentiment which I thus venture to express to your 
Lordship, I am most cordially joined by the Archbishop of 
Tuam. Minto is hourly expected in Rome ! The Arch- 
bishop sends his most sincere regards. 

My dear Lord, ever faithfully and affectionately yours, 

>l^ W. O'HiGGINS. 

Most Rev. Dr. Maginn. 



Rome, JVovember 24, 1848. 

My Lord, — I received your Lordship's letter some time 
ago, and sent the letter for the Pope to him without delay. 

I now write a few lines to let you know how things stand 
here. On the 16th instant the Roman chamber of deputies 
was to meet. Count Rossi, the Pope's principal minister, 
went to assist at the meeting. He had scarcely left his car- 
riage,' when he was surrounded by a number of volunteers 
who had returned from Lombardy, and an assassin gave 
him a blow with a dagger in the neck and killed him on the 
spot. Rossi's crime was, that during his ministry of two 
months he had restored order in Rome and in the pro- 
vinces, and was endeavoring to put government on a 
firm footing. The death of Rossi was considered a 
triumph by the radical faction. They went shouting like 



272 APPENDIX. 

demons tlirougli tlie streets, and exulting in tlie crime 
they had committed. The next day the same party as- 
sembled in great force, and went to the Pope's palace to 
compel him to appoint ministers of their choice, and 
to require that he should declare war on Austria, and 
invoke some sort of a diet of all Italy in Eome. The 
Pope appointed a new ministry, but refused to accede to 
the other conditions. His palace was then assailed by 
the mob. Faggots were put against its doors to burn 
them, and a cannon was planted opposite the entrance of 
the palace to force a way into it. One of the Pope's 
secretaries, Monsignor Palma, a most excellent and 
learned man, unfortunately approached one of the win- 
dows, and was shot through the heart. After some time 
the guards of the palace, who were but a few in number, 
had to yield, and the Pope is now in the hands of the 
radical mob. This is the same faction which trampled 
on the Catholics of Switzerland, and has been encouraged 
by some of our good diplomatists. How matters will 
now terminate, it is difficult to know. The Cardinals 
here, with the exception of three or four, all left the city. 
The Pope is alone, and in the hands of his enemies, 
and the enemies of order and religion. I hope your 
Lordship will write a few lines to excite public indigna- 
tion against the conduct of those men. They are generally 
those whose chains were struck off two years ago by the 
Pope. It is a most deplorable thing that so good and 
so holy a Pontiff should meet with so much ingratitude. 
There is but a poor chance for the independence of Italy, 
when its pretended defenders show such impiety and in- 
famy. 



APPENDIX. 278 

Drs. MacHale and Higgins liad left before tlie tumults 
here commenced. I hope their success gave general satis- 
faction. The Pope and Cardinals, who displayed so much 
courage, ought to be supported by the voice of all Chris- 
tendom. Dr. Kirby desires to be remembered to you. I 
have the honor to be, with profoundest respect, 

Your devoted obedient servant, P. Cullen. 

Et. Eev. Dr. Maginn. 

P. S. — In writing anything do not refer to u.s, as there 
is danger here of the daggers of the assassins. 



EOME, January 4, 1849. 
My Lordj — I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your 
Lordship's letter of the 21st of December, and to return 
my sincere thanks for your most beautiful pastoral letter. 
It is all that could be desired. I am sure it will produce 
a great effect both at home and abroad. I expect it shall 
be published very soon, even in Eome. I dare say the 
Pope has not fared so badly in exile as I imagined. All 
the Catholics of France and Spain have put their wealth 
at his disposal. Tlie King of Naples, too, and his subjects 
have been most generous, and His Holiness is able to keep 
up a becoming establishment. However it will be well 
that Ireland in her poverty should do something also, 
and that she should share in the merit of supporting and 
restoring the vicar of Jesus Christ. Should you send 
anything from Derry, I will be most happy to present 
it ; a bill payable in London in my favor or in favor of 
any one else, from the bank of Ireland or the bank of 
England, is as good as cash here. There is no danger in 
12* 



274 APPENDIX. 

sending bills, but it Tvonld be well to write immediately 
afterwards, in order that payment might be stopped if the 
bill went astray. I would be glad to have an opportunity 
of going to Gaeta to see His Holiness ; so if I get any 
commission I will start immediately. It is only a few 
miles from Eome, not more than eighty-five. 

Since the Pope left Eome everything has been quieL 
His flight quite disconcerted his enemy. The greater 
part of the State has declared against them, and even in 
Eome they are quite fallen. If things be left to their 
natural course, the very men who occasioned all the past 
evils here will be obliged to fly, and to allow the Pope to 
return before next Easter. The disaffected are only a 
few thousand, but they are organized and stop at nothing. 
The great mass of them are strangers. The Eomans are 
not accustomed to fighting or violence ; they do not know 
how to resist ; they let themselves be trampled on by a 
handful of ruffians. However, by degrees they are be- 
ginning to show a little courage, and I trust they will 
soon make strong demonstrations in favor of His Holi- 
ness. I vnll write again in a few days, and enter more 
into detals. 

I was sorry to hear that your Lordship had suffered 
so much from sickness. If you could come to Italy, for 
a few months, the chmate wouM restore you prefectly. I 
hope after Easter things will be quiet. You could then 
come, and I am sure Eome will please you very much, 
though things are not as they ought to be. We were 
never molested at the college, though we never concealed 
our sentiments. I think strangers will not be molested 
in the present movement. Of course, religious orders, 



APPENDIX. 275 

churches and church property, must suffer, but there is 
no great danger for strangers. A few months here would 
take away every affection of the lungs. 

I will apply for the facility you desire. I believe it 
can be got without difficulty. The ecclesiastical authori- 
ties here have means of corresponding continually with 
His Holiness. 

Dr. Kirby desires to present his best respects to your 
Lordship. Excuse haste, and believe me to be with pro- 
foundest respect and veneration, 

Your devoted obedient servant, P. CuLLElsr. 

Et. Rev. Dr. Maginn. 



EoME. January 14, 1849. 
My Lord^ — ^I write a few lines to keep you aufait of 
what is going on here. The city is still quiet, though 
every one is living in alarm, and afraid that something 
serious is about to happen every day. No move as yet 
to recall the Pope. Those in power are circulating all 
sorts of attacks on him. They have not been able to 
find any fault in him, most fortunately, except that he 
was too kind-hearted. It is very difficult to conjecture 
how things will end. It is even hard to explain how 
things stand here. After the Pope left Eome, he ap- 
pointed a commission to act for him during his ab- 
sence. The Eoman Parliament, or rather the mob, re- 
fused to acknowledge that commission, and appointed a 
Junta to govern in the Pope's name. The first act of 
the Junta was to dismiss the Parliament ; the ministry, 
thcD, which was formed by the Junta, dissolved the 



276 APPENDIX. 

Junta, and assumed the title of Provisional Govern- 
ment. They have convoked a constituent or national 
assembly of the Pope's states for the 5th of February, 
The members will be all named by a few Freemasons' 
clubs, who sit in different parts. The people take no 
part in the proceedings. The radical faction is not nu- 
merous, but it is active and violent. The good people 
are quite broken down, and appear to know not what to 
do. His Holiness has excommunicated all those who 
have taken part in convoking the national assembly. 
The excommunication is already producing some effect. 
A lawyer, by name Eagnoli, who drew up the decree 
for convoking the national assembly, the moment the 
news of the excommunication arrived, got an apoplectic 
fit, and died. An officer who was engaged in the same 
business fell from his horse, and broke his skull. If no 
one else will stir in defence of Pio IX., God will avenge 
his cause. There never was a Pope more deserving of 
the love of the faithful, and perhaps no Pope was ever 
treated with more ingratitude by his subjects. Things, 
however, must come round again. They cannot go on 
very long as they are. If His Holiness do not be re- 
called, Eome and the State will go to ruin. There is at 
present some appearance of a reaction in favor of His 
Holiness, but it will not produce any great effect for 
some time. If any foreign force come, there will be no 
opposition. Our heroes who were so brave against the 
Pope, will fly like deer. 

Your Lordship's Pastoral was greatly admired here by 
every one that read it. A great part of it is already in 
'Italian, and it v,^ill appear next week in the only good 



APPENDIX. 277 

paper here, the Constituzionale ; at least that paper will 
give extracts. So noble a testimony to the authority of 
the Holy See will produce a great effect throughout the 
world, especially wherever the English language is 
spoken. 

I was sorry to hear that it is difficult to turn to any 
account the victory that was gained in Eome in the Col- 
lege question. A committee ought to be formed to at- 
tempt the institution of a university. Some good lay- 
men ought to be got to act. It is difficult to get the 
clergy to attend to everything. I dare say it would be 
useful to found a religious association in Ireland of lay- 
men and clergymen, to attend to the defence of religion 
and the Church, to promote Christian education, and to 
protect the poor. It should be purely Catholic. The 
Germans have formed one on a grand scale, called the 
Association of Pius IX. Dr. Buss, a layman, who is 
called the O'Connell of Grermany, is at the head of it, 
and it already counts millions of associates. A purely 
Catholic association would soon found a university. 
The experiment of uniting Protestants and Catholics 
for religious purposes can never succeed. Even in pol- 
itics they will never pull well together. O'Connell was 
generally betrayed by every Protestant he put in a pro- 
minent position, and last of all by Davis, Mitchell, and 
Smith O'Brien. At all events, for religious matters, and 
especially for the defence of the liberty of the Church 
and the safety of education. Catholics ought to asso- 
ciate. If an association were once well organized, it 
would soon become very general. It would at least 
give as good a revenue as the Association for the Propa- 



278 APPENDIX. 

gation of the Faith, and that would support a good 
college. 

Your Lordship will excuse me for writing in a great 
hurry, and troubling you with those suggestions. Dr. 
Kirby desires to be remembered most particularly to 
your Lordship. I hope your nuns are getting on well. 
They will be, when once well settled, a great protection 
to religion and education in Derry. Believe me to be, 
my dear Lord, with profoundest respect. 

Your devoted, obedient servant, 

Paul Cullen. 



AMEroED STATUTES OF THE QUEEls^'S COLLEGES U 
IRELAND, EELATKfG TO EELIGIOJ(. 

[The following are the amended statutes, accompany- 
ing Lord Clarendon's letter of March 19th, 1848, to Most 
Eev. Dr. Murray.] 

CHAPTER VI. 

OF THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF PROFESSORS. 

1. Every Professor shall attend all meetings of the 
Faculty to which he belongs, and, when appointed Dean 
of Faculty, he shall attend the meetings of the College 
Council, and perform all other duties pertaining to that 
office. 

2. He shall act upon all committees to which he may 
be appointed by the College Council, or by the Faculty 
of which he is a member. 

3. He shall examine Candidates for Entrance, Scholar- 
ships and Prizes, and shall assist at all other Examina- 
tions, according to the appointment of the College Council. 

4. He shall lecture, teach and examine his Class, at 
such hours and for such periods as may be appointed by 
the College Council, and shall observe punctuahty and 
diligence in discharging those duties, and shall maintain 
strict order and discipline in his class. 

5. Any Professor shall be permitted, with the Sane- 



280 APPENDIX. 

tion of the President, to receive into his house as Board- 
ers, a limited number of Pupils of the College. 

6. If any Professor or assistant shall, in any lecture or 
examination, or in the discharge of any other part of his 
Collegiate duty, tea'ch or advance any doctrine, or make 
any statement derogatory to the truths of Revealed Eeli- 
gion, or injurious or disrespectful to the Eeligious con- 
victions of any portion of his class or audience, or shall 
introduce or discuss political or polemical subjects tend- 
ing to produce contention or excitement, such Professor 
shall be summoned before the Coimcil, and upon sufficient 
evidence of his having so transgressed, shall be formally 
warned and reprimanded by the President ; and if any 
such Professor be guiltj^ of a repetition of said or similar 
offence, the President shall forthwith suspend him from 
his functions, and take steps officially to recommend to 
the Crown his removal from office, as having transgressed 
the statutes of the College, and violated his obligations to 
its authorities. 

7. Every Professor shall sign, the following Declaration : 
'' I., A. B., do hereby promise to the President and Council 

of that I will faithfully, and to the best of my 

ability, discharge the duties of Professor of in 

said College ; and I further promise and engage, that in 
the lectures and examinations, and in the performance of 
all other duties connected with my chair, I will carefully 
abstain from teaching or advancing any doctrine, or 
making any statement derogatory to the truths of Revealed 
Religion, or injurious or disrespectful to the religious 
convictions of any portion of my class or audience ; and I 
moreover promise to the said President and Council of 



APPENDIX. 281 

that I will not introduce or discuss in my place 

and capacity of any subject of politics or polemics 

tending to produce contention or excitement, nor will I 
engage in any avocation wliicli the President and Coun- 
cils shall judge inconsistent with the respectability of my 
office : but will, as far as in me lies, promote, on all occa- 
sions, the interests of Education and the welfare of the 
Colleges." 

CHAPTER XYII. 

OF PUNISHMENTS. 

Sec. I. Any student guilty of any of the following 
offences shall be liable to expulsion from the College ; 
but it shall be competent to Council, should they 
deem it more conducive to the discipline of the College 
and the reformation of the offender, to impose some lighter 
punishment for the same. 1. Habitual neglect of at- 
tendance on Divine Worship, at such church or chapel, 
as shall be approved by his parent or guardians. 2. Hab- 
itual neglect of attendance on the Eeligious Instruc- 
tion provided for students of his church or denomination, 
in the licensed boardin2!:-house in which he mav reside. 
3. Immoral or dishonest practices. 4. Treasonable or 
seditious conduct. 5. Drunkenness. 6. Grievous offences 
against College rules. 7. Wilful and serious injury to 
the Property of the College. 

Sec. II. For all offences and violations of the statutes, 
rules and ordinances of the College of a less grievous 
nature than the preceding, the Council shall have power 
to inflict such fine or other punishment as sliall appear to 
them suitable to the same. 



282 APPENDIX. 

Sec. III. Any student who has been expelled from any 
of the Queen's Colleges in Ireland, shall not be allowed 
afterwards to enter or pursue his Indies in any other of 
the said Colleges. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

OF THE RESIDENCE OF STUDENTS AND THE DEANS OF RESIDENCES. 

Sec. I. Every matriculated student, being under the 
age of twenty- one years, shall be required to reside during 
the College term^s, with his parent or guardian, or with 
some relation or friend to whose care he shall have been 
committed by his parent or guardian, or in a boarding- 
house, licensed and arranged for the reception of students, 
in the manner hereinafter described. 

Sec. II. The relation or friend to whose care a student 
shall have been committed, shall attend at the matricula- 
tion of the student to certify the said student's place of 
residence, and to accept the charge of his moral and reli- 
gious conduct. 

Sec. III. Every student intending to reside in a licensed 
boarding-house, shall, at matriculation, produce a certifi- 
cate from his parent or guardian, specifying the board- 
ing-house in which it is proposed he shall reside. 

Sec IV. The President shall require every person ap- 
plying for a license to keep a general boarding-house, to 
produce a certificate of moral and religious character 
from his clergyman or minister, and shall obtain satis- 
factory evidence of the suitableness of the proposed Es- 
tablishment, and of its means of providing for the health 
and comfort of the students. 

Sec Y. If the Bishop, Moderator, or constituted author- 



APPENDIX. 283 

it J of any church, or rehgioiis denomination, shall notify to 
the President his or their desire that there shall be board- 
ing-houses specially licensed for the exclusive use of the 
students of such church or denomination, and shall 
specially recommend persons applying for license to es- 
tablish the same, the President shall in every such case 
grant such license, provided he shall obtain satisfactory 
evidence of the suitableness of the proposed establiskment, 
and of its means of providing for the health and comfort 
of the students. 

Sec. VI. In the case of collegiate students residing in a 
seminary or school which is under the special jurisdic- 
tion of the Bishop, Moderator, or the constituted author- 
ity of any church or religious denomination, the Presi- 
dent shall, on receiving a notification from such authority, 
consider residence in such a seminary or school to cor- 
respond with residence in the house of a parent or 
guardian, and shall exempt such seminary or school 
from license or inspection, but shall requ.ire the same 
attendance at matriculation as in the case of. a student 
residing with his parent or guardian. 

Sec. YII. For the better maintenance of moral and re- 
ligious discipliDC in the licensed boarding-houses. Deans 
of Residences, being clergymen or ministers, shall be 
appointed by the Crown, to whom the moral care and 
spiritual charge of the students of their respective creeds, 
residing in the Hcensed boarding-houses, are hereby 
entrusted. 

Sec. Vlll. No clergyman or minister shall be compe- 
tent to assume, or continue to hold the oflice of Dean of 
Residences, unless approved by the Bishop, moderator, or 



284 APPENDIX. 

constituted aiitliority of his cliurcli or religious denomina- 
tion. 

Sec. IX. The Deans of Eesidences shall have authority 
to visit the licensed boarding-houses in which students 
of their respective creeds reside, for the purpose of afford- 
ing religious instruction to such students, and shall also 
have power, with the concurrence of the Bishop, Modera- 
tor oik other ecclesiastical authority respectively, to make 
regulations for the observance of the religious duties of 
such students, and for securing their regular attendance 
on divine worship — such* regulations, before coming into 
force, to be laid before the President, in order to satisfy 
him that the same shall not interfere with the general dis- 
cipline of the College. 

Sec. X. The Eegistrar shall, at the commencement of 
every collegiate session, furnish each Dean of Eesidences 
with a list of the names and residences of the students, 
of his religious persuasion, who may reside in the licensed 
boarding-houses. 

Sec. XI. Each Dean of Eesidences shall, at the termin- 
ation of every collegiate session, report to the President 
on the general conduct of the students under his moral 
care and spiritual charge, in the licensed boarding- 
houses, and on the manner in which discipline regarding 
such students, has been observed in the several licensed 
boarding-houses in which they may reside. 



PASTORAL OX THE POPE'S EXILE. 

EDWARD, BY THE DIVINE MERCY AND THE GRACE OF THE HOLY SEE, 
BISHOP OF ORTHOSIA AND APOSTOLIC ADMINISTRATOR OF THE DIO- 
CESE OF DERRY. 

To the Clergy and the Faithful of the Dioeese of Derry — 
Oreeting and Benediction in the Lord Jesus Christ 

I should have wished, dearly beloved brethren, to 
have communed with you at a somewhat earlier date, 
on a subject which so justly engrosses the attention, and 
enlists the sympathies of every sincere Catholic through- 
out Christendom. A severe and tedious indisposition 
alone prevented me from sooner discharging towards 
you this, what I felt to be a pressing and an imperative 
duty. Although the temporal condition of our own 
unhappy country be admittedly painful to contemplate, 
there is something still more painful in the afhicting 
news that has reached us from that city, hitherto the 
holy, the venerable, and the beloved, as the seat of reli- 
gion's throne, the rock on which the bark of Peter was 
moored — the centre of Catholic unity, hallowed by a 
thousand glorious recollections — the sacred repository 
of the mortal vestments of the Tentmaker and Fisher- 
man ; yea, still further consecrated by the footprints of 
millions of sainted Confessors, and by the precious relics 



286 APPEXPix. 

of tens of thousands of Christian martyrs. It was to 
that Christian Jerusalem the eves of our old and Youns: 
were wont to fonAJv turn, and their hearts to exult in 
the beauty of its tabernacles. Thither the Catholic pil- 
grim, from every land on earth, directed his anxious 
steps, to renew and invigorate his youth at the very 
source of the waters of life, or to seek for a wounded 
soul at the feet of Christ's Yicar, the balm of peace and 
the word of reconciliation — ^the Eiemal City, God's be- 
loved SioD, " the bolts of whose gates he strengthened, 
and whose children he blessed within it — within whose 
borders he placed peace, filling it with the fat of com, 
from whence he delivered his word to Jacob — his justices 
and his judgments to Israel" — P^alm 147 : that city 
from which, in a word, faith was announced with truth- 
ful authority, and missionaries were sent forth with the 
sacred sign of redemption and the seal of a divine sanc- 
tion to spread abroad, through every corner of the earth, 
the glad tidings of salvation — ^to bid those sitting in the 
darkness and in the shadow of death to raise their heads 
in hope above this valley of tears, and look to heaven : 
Oh! what a change, dearly -beloved brethren! that city 
now beconie a nest of vipers, the prey of the godless 
infidel, the seat of the bloody anarchist, sacred to assas- 
sination, blasphemy and sacrilege — ^the palace of the 
supreme Pontiff the object of a rabble's fury — his first 
Minister, and his confidential secretary and friend, the 
unpitied victims of their vengeance — the life of Peter's 
succe^or perilled in it — the great, the good, the beloved 
Father of the Faithful forced from it into exile, to seek 
elsewhere for himself a refuge, and for the Ark of God, 



APPZVDLSL 



entrusted to his hc!v 
dcDth of :ir ::n::' 

how mr : : _ t 



2S7 
Ob, the 



are 



:3ia 



tI oar holv ?:i.: f^ rewarded, 
e, with honor, with gioiy, 
:^r .: children and of sucjecis, 
F\:_rrs and SoTerei^rns. 
"rived brethren, is z _ 



ra^ i:ie -^ " ::. 
jnst and :_r . : : r r i :7 :_e li:.::i :j 

their glorious r .idon, but their pathway to it he 
strews with tbri^s : to readi the Thabor of his perma- 
nent r::*" T -t" ZiUS* cany their cro^ np the narrow 
rusree:. _t^_:s :: Cfdvarv : and, even should thev :!5nd 
in their war, sea:: i:. L :^irf. :: :t £ : 

joT, they mns" : 

amidst the mui-T : ::„^ :^ . :_ _ _ _ 

only a transient i:i:-ne~:; si. likr :-ie ireui-g 

vision of the transfiguration, or hke 

" The dewdrop tiimt, glitteiiDg : i 
Goesattil^toiidi, andffiesbei.rf :if n.ri- 

In the past brief triumphs and : 

our beloved and venerable Poi.:--. .... 

loved brethren, the same finger of Piv)viden>: 

ifested it^lf in the life of our Divine Redeemer 

Yicar he is. He also heard, on the oomme: .: 

his mission, this crv of seemingly warm ii — 



288 APPENDIX. 

'^ Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and blessed are 
the breasts that suckled thee"' — he saw the pressing anx- 
iety of the multitude to crown him King of Juda and 
of Israel — him who already seemed to reign in their 
hearts. Babes and sucklings gave him praise — the gar- 
ments of the people were spread before him to do him 
honor — the palm, the emblem of victorj^, and the olive, 
the symbol of abundance and peace, strewed his path- 
way, and the air was rent with hosannas to the Son of 
David, with blessings upon him that came in the name 
of the Lord. But amidst this scene of tumultuous joy, 
the Saviour was seen weeping, for well he knew the hol- 
low fickleness of all human applause — that all human 
triumphs were but day-dreams, that end in tears — that 
they who spread their garments for him would shortly 
strip him of his own — that of the palm branches they 
were already forming a cross for him, and that, instead 
of the olive of gladness and of peace, they would very 
soon administer to him vinegar and gall, and that their 
hosannas, in fine, to the Son of David, would be changed, 
before a week had passed, into ^' Away with him, away 
with him — crucify him, crucify him." Hence he wept, 
letting us understand that the real triumph of justice is 
in suffering, and its unfading crown only in a virtuous 
death. How striking, dearly -beloved brethren, the par- 
allel between ou.r Divine Redeemer and his holy Pontiff. 
His election to the Chair of Peter and the sovereignty 
of Eome was unanimous. The citizens leaped with joy, 
and hailed their new-made sovereign with vivas — they 
spread their garments on the ground to honor him — they 
sang their hosannahs to him — they blessed him as a Sa- 



APPENDIX. 289 

viour coming to them to redeem the captive, and to set 
the bondsman free — bouquets of flowers covered his 
pathway, and there was no end to their rejoicings. Like 
his Divine Master, he passed amidst them doing good, 
heaping upon them benefactions — striking the chain 
from the limb of the prisoner — restoring to disconsolate 
parents their lost children — proclaiming a universal ju- 
bilee of deliverance. None like the just and the good 
Pio Nono — the womb was blessed tnat bore him, and 
the breasts thrice blessed that suckled him — he alone 
w^as fit to reign over the Eoman people — the great apos- 
tle of law revived, of order restored, and the great high 
Priest of liberty — the resurrection, in fine, and the very 
life of Eome. This, dearly-beloved brethren, was the 
world's forced tribute of transcendent beneficence and 
rectitude. Let us now see its inherent natural hatred of 
both. Its testimony to virtue is ever constrained, hol- 
low and fleeting ; its detestation of it real, spontaneous 
and permanent; for in it it sees its own condemnation. 
It was this feeling in Cain that made him murder Abel, 
because he was innocent— that in Cham mocked the 
best of fathers — that made Lot hostile to Abraham, his 
kinsman and benefactor — and made Esau's hatred of 
Jacob almost immortal ; the same that induced Joseph's 
brethren to coolly plan his murder, to cast him into a 
pit, and afterwards sell him to the merchants of Idumea 
— the same that made Egypt detest Israel, and enslave 
it and pursue it to the death — the same that stirred up 
the thirty and one kings against God's people in the 
desert, and made Core and his followers conspire against 
Aaron and Moses — the same that made Saul furious 
13 



290 APPENDIX. 

against David, and Absolam a traitor to his own father 
— that cast Daniel into the lions' den, and into the fiery 
furnace — that made Haman abominate a Mordecai, and 
sigh for his destruction, and that of his race — the same 
that covered a Jezebel and an Athalia with the blood 
of the Priests and Prophets of the true God, and made 
them the rabid -enemies of his saints and holy temple — 
that made Elias a fugitive, Jeremias a martyr, and pre- 
pared the pincers and heated the gridiron for the youthful 
heroic Machabees and their devoted mother — the same 
hatred of justice shed the blood of the Holy Innocents, 
placed the Baptist's head in a dish, preferred a Barabbas 
to a Jesus, and nailed essential justice to a gibbet. This 
world-wide hatred of justice has filled our calendar with 
Christian martyrs, persecuted everywhere the children 
and the Church of God — made those whom God loved 
and angels looked upon with admiration, objects of ig- 
nominy and reproach — drugged their cup with gall and 
wormwood — yea, gloried in their misery and utter de- 
struction. This spirit of the world has been lately at 
its wicked work in Eome, apotheosizing the assassination 
of the innocent, desecrating whatever was there holy 
and venerable, and making Pius IX. first its captive, and 
then an exile! Oh beloved Pontiff*! your benignity, 
your truthfulness, your piety, your justice, were your 
only crimes. Because you were truthful, meek and 
just, you are now an outcast; *' because thou wert beau- 
tiful in virtue beyond the sons of men — ^because grace 
was poured abroad by God on thy lips, and God had 
abundantly blessed thee — because the sceptre of thy 
kingdom was truly a sceptre of uprightness — because, in 



APPENDIX. 291 

a word, thou hadst loved equity and hated iniquity, 
therefore it is that '' they that sat in the gate spoke 
against thee, and they that drank wine made their song 
of thee;" therefore it is that ^Hhou art become a stran- 
ger to thy brethren, and an alien to the sons of thy 
mother !" Eome, such as it now is, venerable Pontiff, 
was not worthy of thee, neither was the world. Exile, 
however, as thou art, betrayed, deserted by those whom 
you loved, whom you blessed, and loaded with benefac- 
tions, thou wilt not be alone in thy exile. No ; the 
hearts and souls of hundreds of millions of thy faithful 
children in the world, but not of it, shall cluster around 
thee, and comfort thee with their prayers, their tears 
and their sympathies. Thou art not a solitary exile, 
illustrious Pontiff; .the angels of God are around thee ; 
God is with thee — " the ark of God and the people of 
Israel." The true Catholics of the earth are emulous to 
give thee a reception worthy of thee. The Queen of 
Catholicity — ^noble France — hailed thee afar, and sent 
her enthusiastic hosts to defend thee against the infidel 
faction that assailed thee. Spain pants for the honor of 
having with her her Catholic Pontiff, Naples displays 
the riches of her household to allure thee to her palaces; 
under the shadow of the wings of the American eagle, 
a safe, a generous asylum would be afforded thee. And 
oh I if thy faithful Catholic Ireland, wounded though 
she be by misery, and bruised from the top of the head 
to the sole of the foot by oppression, could promise her- 
self the bliss which all so ardently ambition, how her 
heart would bound within her at the bare thought of 
such happiness, how, in one sight of thee, would she 



292 APPENDIX. 

forget the persecutions and tribulations of centuries, 
with what rapturous joy would she exult in thy coming, 
with what eagerness would not her children press around 
thee, and bathe with the tears of sympathy and filial 
affection, the feet of the ever to them faithful Vicar of 
Jesus ! Venerable, beloved Pontiff! Catholic Ireland 
owes thee much. In the hour of her distress the little 
you had to spare was at her service. You appealed to 
the Catholic world in behalf of her wrongs and her 
sufferings ; you appealed not in vain ; she had its pity 
and its aid. Oh, if she had thee here to manifest the 
gratitude that fills her heart, and the deep devotion she 
still bears to Peter's successor and Christ's representa- 
tive on earth, perhaps in this '' land of the West" she 
would make thee forget, for a moment, in the vigor and 
freshness of her faith and love, the ingratitude of thy 
own base people. 

Among us, Venerable Pontiff, there are still attractions 
for you beyond those of the richest and the happiest 
lands on earth : hearts still purely Catholic — souls guile- 
less in their Christian simplicity — a fidelity that has 
weathered every storm, and remained immovably at- 
tached to the Chair of Peter — hope full of immortality, 
and the true spirit of the Communion of Saints, to make 
thy wrongs, thy sufferings, thy tears, thy joys, its own. 
But, should this happiness be denied us, wherever thou 
art we shall be with thee. Our souls, our hearts, our 
sympathies, shall be with thee, and whatever the rapacity 
of our oppressors has left us shall be generally shared 
with thee — still dearer to us, in thy exile, than when 
crowned with the Tiara in thy capital — more interesting 



APPENDIX. 293 

in thy humiliations than when triumphing amidst the 
plaudits of thy fickle, faithless people ; and if thy cover- 
ing, like the Ark of God, were the goat-skin, thou wouldst 
still be to us an object of deeper love and sympathy, of 
more sincere devotion in this humble dress of the pilgrim 
Vicar than when shrouded with all the glory of the 
Quirinal ; for the ignominy of a Calvary is ever dearer 
to the Catholic Christian's memory than a Thabor's glory. 
The one we passingly admire, the other, Jesus in agony, 
Jesus crucified, we ever love to look upon, and their 
sweet memorials we ever bind to our hearts and to our 
memories. 

"We give glory to God for you, dearly beloved brethren, 
that you stand not in need of any exhortation from us 
to be, amidst these visitations, steadfast in your Faith — 
you, the children of tribulation, who have drunk of the 
darkest, muddiest, cup of human misery, even to the 
dregs, without being moved from the broad platform of 
belief in which God in his mercy has placed you. In 
the world's worst evils, you see the finger of God who 
permits them to afflict his children, to bring them to re- 
pentance, or to try them by suffering, that they may 
receive the promise of those who change not their love 
from him. Everlasting praise and thanksgiving to the 
God that has preserved to you this jewel with wliich you 
prefer to be afflicted, with the people of God, rather than 
have the pleasure of sin for a time — with which you 
esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the 
treasures of the Egyptians — with which you feared not 
the fierceness of kings or rulers, but learned to endure 
all things for the sake of that King who is invisible. 



294 APPENDIX. 

With tills faith of yours (for it is a blessed inheritance) 
your forefathers have conquered kingdoms, wrought 
justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 
quenched the violence of fire, blunted the edge of the 
sword of the persecutor, recovered strength from weak- 
ness, valor from the conflict, spread confusion among the 
armies of foreigners, were racked, not accepting deliver- 
ance, that they might find a better resurrection, had, 
moreover, like you, yea more than you, their trials, of 
mockeries and stripes, of bonds and prisons — ^were stoned, 
were cut asunder, were tempted, were put to death by the 
sword, by the gallows, by famine, by pestilence, and a thou- 
sand wickedly and cunningly devised tortures — ^' wan- 
dered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, in want, distress, 
affliction — of whom the world was not worthy — wandered 
in deserts, in mountains, and dens, and in the caves of 
the earth, and still were approved in ail these things by 
the testimony of this faith. '^ To you, the children of 
these saints and martyrs, doubt, hesitation and despond- 
ency, are unfamiliar words. The more the world be- 
comes a desert to you, the nearer the Land of Promise 
appears. You know and feel that the more the child of 
faith is abandoned by men, the more securely he leans 
on the arm of God — ^^Iceva ejus sub capite meo et dextera 
ejus amplexabititr me" — that the left hand of God sustains 
your head, while with his right he embraces you. You 
know that the Ark of the Most High is never half so 
terrible, nor half so wonder-working, as when Philisthiim 
would bind it in captive chains, or seem to triumph over 
its destitution and loneliness. 

For the person of His Holiness — a person so dear to 



APPENDIX. 295 

ns all — we can justly entertain our fears ; for the succes- 
sion to the Chair of Peter, or for the Catholic Church, 
we can have no terrors. These are secure in the promises 
of God. The Balaams and the Hananiases, may see their 
visions and prophecy the downfall of both ; they may 
run, though they be not sent, and predict, though never 
spoken to. In their blindness or their malice they may 
clap their hands with joy, and exult over the impending 
ruin of Popery, foolishly believing its destruction to be 
consequent on the exile of its Pontiff. How often have 
not such prophets uttered this self-same vain thing, and 
made themselves wickedly ridiculous to the faithful ? A 
prophet of this sort was not wanting any year for the 
last eighteen hundred, No doubt, in the very days of 
the Apostles, while yet the Pedeemer's blood shed for 
his spouse was warm on the earth. Hymeneus and 
Alexander prophecied in this way, and that the echo of 
their predictions was taken up and repeated by an Ebion, 
a Marcion, and a Carpocrates. Novatian and Arius were, 
of course, among the major prophets of this sort. The 
predictions thundered forth by Manes were taken up by 
Yigilantius and JErius, and chorused again by Peter De 
Brus, by Valdo, John Huss, Wickliffe, &c., &c., &c. 

But woe to them, if they spoke the truth ! The awful 
day of their reckoning would have been at hand — the 
sun and moon would have refused their light — earth and 
Heaven would have passed away, and the Saviour of the 
world, clothed in majesty, with that triumphant and im- 
mortal which they would have extinct, had judged them 
on their temerity. No, dearly -beloved brethren, the 
permanency of the Chair of Peter, or of the Church of 



296 APPENDIX. 

God, does not depend on the imprisonment, the exile, or 
the death of any Pope ; for, if so, they had long since 
perished. Peter was imprisoned, yet his chair did not 
perish, nor the Church built upon him. Liberius, in 
consequence of his faith in Christ's divinity, was made 
both a prisoner and an exile ; Silverius was imprisoned 
by a wicked Empress, and twice exiled — first, into Lycia, 
secondly, into the Isle of Palmaria, where he expired of 
hunger, A.D. 538,'^ and yet neither the Church nor the 
Chair of Peter perished. Martin I. went through an 
almost similar career of suffering — St. Gregory VII., the 
glorious prototype of our present beloved Pontiff, died in 
exile, with that immortal saying upon his lips — " I loved 
justice, and hated iniquity; and therefore I die in a 
strange land." Pius VI. died an exile, and oh ! what a 
beautiful death, precious in the sight of God, and ever 
precious in the e3^es of the Church ! It was he that left 
us these sweet Christian sentiments, uttered in the day 
of his agony — sentiments so becoming the Vicar of Christ) 
and so glorious to our common faith — " The crown of 
martyrdom (said he) is more brilKant than the tiara. My 
afflictions encourage me to hope that I am not altogether 
unworthy of being the successor of St. Peter, and Vicar 
of Jesus Christ. The situation "in which you behold me, 
recalls to our mind the early ages of the Church, which 
were the days of her triumphs. All in this world is 
vanity ; let us raise our eyes to Heaven where thrones 
are prepared for us, of which men cannot deprive us." 
When, after receiving the Viaticum, he was asked did 
he forgive his enemies — "Yes," said he, fixing his eyes 
* Feller's Biography. 



APPENDIX. 297 

on the crucifix, ^' with all my heart."'^ He died in exile ; 
but the chair and barque of Peter survived him, and 
triumphed in this glorious exhibition of fortitude, resigna- 
tion and charity. Pius YII. was also an exile, and the 
prisoner of the man of a thousand thrones, who strewed 
the earth with millions of dead. The eagle of his glory, 
that hitherto had ever gazed on the oriflame of victory, 
from that hour drooped its bloody wing, and ignominious- 
ly decending to the earth, was trailed through the dust, 
and as a vile thing trampled upon even by those who 
were wont to tremble at the bare sight of its soaring. 
Thirty Popes, all down to Sylvester I., one excepted, 
suffered martyrdom ; and Peter, the first of the Pontiffs, 
was crucified with his head downvfards, the choice of his 
humility, setting this bright example, that he who under 
Christ was first in honor and in jurisdiction, should be 
first in fidelity and humiliations, instructing his successors, 
even in death, that the cross of their Lord was their proper 
inheritance, and their noblest triumphs in suffering for him. 
The present storm, dearly beloved brethren, is merely 
as the zephyr, when compared with the tempests let 
loose at various times for the last eighteen hundred years 
on the Church of God. During the pontificate of Felix 
III., the Emperor Anastasius was a Eutychian heretic — 
the kings of Italy, Spain and Africa, were Arians, blas- 
phemously denying the consubstantiality of the Word, 
and furiously persecuting all who believed in it. The 
kings of the Franks, of the English, of the Germans, were 
Pagans ; and yet the Church, though she had not a single 
sceptre to defend her, nor a loyal arm to sustain and 
* Pigot^s Ecc. An. 



298 APPENDIX. 

nurse lier, but all on every side hei enemies, did not 
perish. In the sixteenth century, a thousand prophets, 
with the tongues of Babel, predicted the Church's im- 
mediate downfall, and used every weapon which malignity 
could suggest, or rather fury supply, to realize their 
own predictions. The battle was fierce and prolonged. 
Hell resorted to its whole armoury to make its prophets 
for once truthful. How far it succeeded, let our enemies 
and their friends be the witnesses. '^ It was at the mo- 
ment," says an eminent biographer^ ^' when Protestant- 
ism sat in triumph on the ruins of the Catholic altars and 
temples, subverted by it throughout the greater parts of 
Europe, and when it flattered itself that it was assisting 
at the funeral obsequies of the Eoman Catholic Church, 
that that Church manifested a superabundance of life, 
and displayed immense renovated energies. In Italy, 
France and Spain, fifty-nine new orders sprang into ex- 
istence, for purposes of education, instruction, and bene- 
ficence, and applied to the service of the Church all their 
available powers ; and thereby insensibly secured the 
allegiance of future generations. What glorious forms I 
see rising up before me : the Borromeos, the Ignatiuses 
the Xaviers, the De Sales, the Paalos Giustiani, the 
Ga3tanos de Thiene, the Peter Caraffas, the Eomillons, 
the BeruUes, the Philips of Neri, the Hugo Menards, the 
Johns of God, the Bellarmins, the Baroniuses, the Vin- 
cents of Paul, &c. Further on, we see that magnificent 
Catholic structure raised up in South America, where 
conquest became a mission, and this mission Christian 
civilization. We see at Goa, in 1665, three hundred 
* Ranke's Papacy. 



APPENDIX. 299 

thousand Catholic converts, the first fruit of its conquest ; 
at Japan, in 1579, three hundred thousand Christian 
converts ; in 1606, three hundred churches, and thirty- 
Jesuitical institutions, founded by Father Valignagno, 
and all this in the face of the most bloody persecutions. 
From the year 1603 till 1622, two hundred and thirty- 
nine thousand three hundred and thirty-nine additional 
Japanese converted. The first Catholic Church conse- 
crated at Nankin, in China, after the death of the cele- 
brated Father Ricci, who always gave mathematical as a 
preface to his religious instruction. In 1616, we see 
Christian Churches everywhere raised throughout the 
five provinces of the Celestial Empire, and attended by 
millions of converts. We, moreover, see seventy Brah- 
mins converted by Father Nobili ; three Princes of the 
Imperial family of Akbar converted by Jerome Xavier, 
at the Court of the Grreat Mogul ; the Nestorians restored 
to unity ; in Abyssinia, Sela Christos, brother of the 
Emperor, and then the Emperor Seltan Segueld. 

'^ At the Eoman Court, the men of that day, whether 
politicians, poets, artists, &c., &c., had all the same char- 
acter of religious austerity. The Church touched and 
reanimated with its breath all the extinct and corrupted 
faculties of life, and gave to the world quite a new com- 
plexion. What immense activity ! Rome, enfolding 
the entire world, penetrating, at the same time, tlie Indies 
and the Alps — sending forth its representatives and de- 
fenders at the same to Thibet, and Scandinavia ; and, 
through this boundless scene, everywhere youthful, ener- 
getic, indefatigable, making the impelling active principle 
of the centre to bear perhaps with more intensity and 
effect on its a^^^ents in the most distant countries." 



300 APPENDIX. 

This is substantially the testimony of Protestant Eanke. 
But few signs of dissolution, beloved brethren, in those 
eventful times. The Prophets were at fault here as else- 
where. How the infidel conspiracy of more modern days 
ended is known to all. France, that immolated her 
thousands of Priests to the goddess of reason and turpi- 
tude, and sent sixty-two thousand into exile, is now one 
of the most brilliant and attached jewels in the Popes 
tiara. The recent conspiracy, also an infidel one, will, 
we firmly trust in God, have a similar result. The storm 
may carry away some of the withered branches and 
shrivelled useless foliage, to leave the stem with its 
original sap, and the remaining branches with additional 
shoots still more healthful and luxuriant. The cry, ^' The 
Church is in danger," never yet proceeded from sincere 
Catholic lips. There can be no danger for the Church, 
unless God and His promises be in danger. The heavens 
and the earth shall pass away, and even after they shall 
have passed, our Church will not be even then in danger 
but in her eternal home triumphant, divested of her pil- 
grim's dress, and in the renovated beauty of glorious 
life immortal, will stand at the right hand of her bride- 
groom robed in gold, and decorated with every orna- 
mental variety. In this position the Prophet saw her 
when he exclaimed — '' Astitit regina a dexteris ejus civ- 
cumdata varietatey In every year and day, until this 
blissful consummation, individuals in the Church will, 
of course, be in danger, and kingdoms and peoples, who 
have received the gift of faith, will be in danger of losing, 
through their own perverseness, that precious boon of 
heaven. But, if they be cast by the wrath of God into 
the sinks and sewers of the City of Sion, like all foul 



APPENDIX. 801 

and fetid things, to be carried out of it, it will be because by- 
being allowed to remain within it they would have spread 
abroad infection and corruption, and by their own turpi- 
tude have themselves perished in it — ^' Non ex aliis liom- 
inibus jiunt hoeretici quam ex lis qui si in Ecclesia perman- 
sissent propter vitce turpitudinem nihihminus periissenV — 
Saint Augustin^ Liber 8, de Vera Religione, 

Of the Church, therefore, dearly-beloved brethren, 
you rest assured that the God that launched her on the 
sea of this world may allow her to be tempest-tossed, 
but never to perish, for he himself has promised to be 
her pilot, " Lo, I am with thee all days, even to the con- 
summation of the world." In the midst of her he has 
planted his own trophy — erected against death his own 
triumphant standard of Eedemption. The prow of this 
noble mechanism of God is the Bast, its stern the West, 
its midships the South and North ; the ropes stretched 
about it are the love of Christ, its cement the spirit of 
unity, which holds fast and binds together its every tim- 
ber ; the net which it carries is the laver of regenera- 
tion ; the Holy Ghost is the wind that fills the sails, and 
impels it onward ; its anchors are of iron, strong, endur- 
ing, irresistible, the promises of Christ — its destination 
the Ararat of God's glory. The sky may become dense 
with clouds, and cast its pitchy darkness around it; 
Christ Jesus is its light and its guide. Heaven's cata- 
racts may break upon it, and the waters of the abyss 
ascend to meet the floods of heaven — the deeper the tor- 
rent the more elevated the ark of God ; over the whirl- 
ing, foaming eddies she rides triumphant, ^^ still onward 
inscribed in letters of gold upon her prow — the fury of 



302 APPENDIX. 

the elements making her triumph still more conspicuous 
" — her seeming solitude on the deep rendering her passage 
still more secure, as it is then she can say with confi- 
dence, " God is my protector." " The Church," says St. 
Ambrose,^ is buffeted, but is not overwhelmed by the 
waves of worldly cares ; she is stricken, but is not weak- 
ened, being easily able to subdue and calm down the 
agitation of the waves, and the rebellion of the passions 
of the body; she looks on, herself free and exempt 
from danger, whilst others are shipwrecked, always pre- 
pared to have Christ shine upon her, and to derive glad- 
ness from his light." There is nothing," says St. Chry- 
sostom,f '' equal to the Church. Tell me not of walls 
and arms, for walls grow old with time, but the Church 
never grows old; walls barbarians destroy, but the 
Church not even demons can overcome. And that my 
words are not empty boasting, facts testify. How many 
have waged war against the Church, and they that 
warred against her have perished, but she has been 
raised up above the heavens. Such is the mightiness of 
the Church ; warred against she conquers, devised 
against, she overcomes ; assailed with insult, she is made 
more resplendent ; she receives wounds, but sinks not 
beneath the ulcer ; agitated by the waves, she is not sub- 
merged ; tempest- tossed, but she suffers no shipwreck ; 
wrestles, but is not overthrown ; she fights as the pu- 
gilist, but is not beaten. Why, then, has God permitted 
the contest ? That he may exhibit a more glorious tro- 

* St. Ambrose, torn. I., de Abraham, s. 2, c. 3, no. 11, p. 318. 
t St Chrysostom, torn. 3, de Capto Eutropio, no. 1, p. 461. 



APPENDIX 303 

pliy." Let others, thereforej dearly beloved brethren, 
sit, if they please, exultingly, like Jonas in the shade of 
their own ivy — the ivy of their own planting; let 
others, like Elias, delight in the shadow of their juniper- 
tree ; let others have their favorite oak, planted for them 
by royal hands, and flourished by the base alloy of 
royal passions; let others have whatever protecting 
shade fancy may make desirable, ours shall ever be se- 
cure repose beneath the shadow of the Chair of Peter, 
and within the hold of that bark which God built ; for 
*^ wherever Peter is, there the Church is ; where the 
Church is, there death is not, but life eternal ; '' the gates 
of hell shall not prevail against it," uhi Petrus ihi Eccle- 
sia ; uhi Ecclesia ihi mdla more sed vita ceterna ; portcB in- 
feri non prcevalehunt ei ; ccelum o^peruit^ inferos claiiset. 

Wherefore, dearly beloved brethren, without further 
notice of the vain effusions of our modern Prophets, let 
us return to our illustrious Pontiff, whose situation 
should now be the chief object of our solicitude. The 
Church is suffering in its glorious head. Every member 
of the mystic body must feel the obligations which 
Christian duty, in such circumstances, imposes upon him. 
''Who is sick," says St. Paul, ''that I am not infirm — 
who burns that I am not on fire?" The head, the heart 
of the Church of God is sick, infirm in the fiery ordeal 
of tribulation and sorrow. Plis pain must have passed 
to us all ; for if the afflictions of the least of the little 
ones of God should so deeply interest us, and claim our 
warmest sympathies, how much more so the sorrows of 
the father of the faithful, the successor of Saint Peter, 
and the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth ? In all such 



304 APPENDIX. 

calamities as the present, you know, dearly beloved 
brethren, that prayer is the Christian's anchor of hope 
— -joint supplication to God his never-failing resource. 
Our strength, as Tertullian says, in such visitations is in 
our knees. Let us, therefore, dearly beloved brethren, 
one and all, join our prayers and entreaties with those 
of the Catholic world, and cry out together to the Lord 
in our affliction, that he may turn this present storm 
into a calm, and bid the waves be still. Let us pray 
him to give consolation to the wounded soul of our 
chief pastor, and a troubled spirit and a contrite heart 
to those among his own subjects who caused his suffer- 
ings, '^ for our Lord is the keeper of the great and the 
little ones. He has humbled his holy servant, that he 
may deliver and glorify him, turn his soul into rest, de- 
liver his eyes from tears, and his feet from falling." 
From his hand, his Vicar has submissively received this 
chalice of tribulation. Let me, then, implore you, dear- 
ly beloved, to redouble your prayers and ovations to the 
all-provident God, that he may speedily restore his great 
and good Pontiff, Pius IX., to a truly penitent people, 
and to that city he loved with a father's heart, there to 
sacrifice to him once more a sacrifice of praise, and call 
down, as he was wont to do, blessings on the whole 
earth, *' in the courts of the Lord's own house — in the 
midst of thee, O Jerusalem !" To carry into effect, 
dearly beloved brethren, this, our anxious wish, we 
hereby appoint as follows : 

Firstly. The faithful, during the exile of our Holy Fa- 
ther, will say, at their morning and evening family pray- 
ers, three Paters, three Aves and a Creed, that God may 



APPENDIX. 305 

comfort His servant Pius, and protect and deliver him 
from his enemies. 

Secondly. At all the station^houses, the faithful, after 
having received Holy Communion, will be invited to join 
in heartfelt prayer for the aforesaid pious purpose. 

Thirdly. On Friday next, let Mass be celebrated in 
each of the Parochial churches of the Diocese of Derry, 
at which all the faithful are commanded to attend for 
the same object. 

Fourthly. Let the Collect, Deus Omnium Fidelium^ 
for the Pope, be continued to be said on all days, at all 
Masses on which the Eubric does not interfere ; let, also, 
the beautiful prayer which has been read in our churches 
for the last three months, and said to be composed by 
His Holiness himself, be continued to be read before the 
celebration of the mysteries — before all masses private or 
public. 

Fifthly. From a letter I had lately from Eome, it 
appears that His Holiness left his palace without any pe- 
cuniary resources. Hitherto, we have not been called 
upon to contribute anything towards the support of the 
Father of the Faithful. In his present condition, both 
duty and gratitude should oblige us to come forward to 
his aid. Poor though we be, we will still find something 
for such a holy purpose. He generously shared with us 
in our distress — with him we will as cheerfnlly share. 
Let, therefore, all the faithful of the Diocese of Derry be 
afforded an opportunity on the last Sunday of Advent 
of exhibiting their love of, and devotion to, the Head of the 
Church, by adding their mite to that fund which the 
Catholic world, no doubt, will feel it a Christian obli2:a- 



806 APPENDIX. 

tion to provide. The contributions of Catholic clergy 
of this Diocese to the same holy purpose I will myself 
thankfully receive. 

Sixthly. This our Pastoral shall be publicly read iu 
every church and chapel throughout the Diocese of Derry, 
on the third Sunday of Advent. 

May the grace of our Lord and the charity of God in 
Christ Jesus be with you all. Amen. 

►& Edward Maginn. 

Bishop of Orthosia and Apostolic Administrator of 
Derry. 
Given at Derry, this 8th day of December, the Feast of 

the Conception of the B. Y. Mary, in the year of our 

Lord 1848. 



[When we had proceeded so far with the Appendix, 
it was found impracticable to give Dr. Maginn's Latin 
letters, and some other documents of interest, without 
swelling the volume to a size, and proportionately in- 
creasing the price to a sum, at which it was feared it 
would not be saleable in America. But should the suc- 
cess of the present edition warrant it, the more important 
of the Latin letters will be added, either in pamphlet 
form or in continuation of the present Appendix.] 



THE 

STAR OF BETHLEHEM: 

A MA If UAL OF PRAYER, 

BY THE REVEREND TITUS JOSLTN. 

WITH THE APPROBATION OF 

MOST REVEREND JOHN HUGHES, D. D., 

ARCHBISHOP OF NEAT YORK. 



•' It is morft avHilable to pray a little and well with attention, than to pray 
niiiph after another manner; for God is not overcome with the muit7nlicity of 
<Mir prayers, but with the weight and fervor of thom." — St. Baeil, in Cona<i. 
Monnst. C, 2, 



P, O' S H E A, 

739 BROADWAY AND 20 BEEKMAN STREET. 
1857. 



THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM. 



TERMS. 

Roan, plain binding, neat and strong, 1 steel engraving, 75 

Roan, gilt edges, 2 steel engravings, 1 25 

Am. Mor., gilt edges and sides, 4 steel engravings, 1 50 

Turkey Morocco extra, 8 steel engravings, • . 2 5'J 

do. do. and clasps 3 00 

do. do. bev. edges and clasps, 3 00 

do. do. clasps and ornaments, 4 50 

Velvet, from 4 00 to 20 00 



P. O'SHEA, m BROADWAY, N. Y., 

Has the pleasure of announcing to his friends, and to the 
Catholic Public, that he has just published the above new 
and beautiful Prayer Book. In the beauty of its type, in 
the excellence and variety of its illustrations — engraved for 
it expressly — and in the neatness and durability of its 
various styles of binding, THE STAR OF hETHLEHEM is 
unsurpassed, by any prayer book in the English Language. 
And v\^hilst, as regards the value and appropriateness of its 
matter, the name of the Rev. compiler is a sufficient recom- 
mendation, still as it contains many prayers, and many in- 
structions not to be found in any other prayer book hither- 
to compiled, the following remarks upon its arrange- 
ment and contents are deemed advisable. 

It may here be remarked that those litanies^ in our larger 
Praye-> Books, tchich have been condemned at Rome, have not 
been admitted into the *' Star of Bethlehfm.''^ 

The instructions on the sacraments prepared expressly 
for this work are of the most solid and simple kind. — 
Each of the seven sacraments is treated of in a separate sec- 



THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM. 

tion, and the instruction upon the sacrannent of Penance, 
in particular, will be found to embrace instructions on 
going to confession not to be foursd in other Prayer books. 
The examination of conscience, which is not, as in other 
books, a catalogue of questions, is full of useful instruc- 
tions drawn from the moral of St. Alphonsus Liguori. 

The treatises on prayer, on daily examination of con- 
science, and on meditation have been written expressly 
for the "STAPt OF BETHLEHEM." 

The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, occu- 
pies an ample section, and is more complete than in any 
other prayer book. This section embraces a history of the 
devotion, certain prayers of the Ven Marg. Mary Alocoque 
and others which have never before appeared in English 

The devotions to the Blessed Virgin are very choice, se- 
lected from venerable Blosius and authors not hitherto so 
much known to the faithful as they should be, and occu- 
pying, together with the different offices of our Lady, the 
most valuable and vital section in the book. 

The treatise on indulgences is unusually simple and 
clear, and is succeeded by a list of choice indulgenced 
PRAYERS AND EXERCISES from Bouvicr's Celebrated treatise 
on the same subject. 

A section on the passion of Christ full of choice medi- 
tations, a new article on the stations of the holy cross and 
a section on devotion to St. Joseph, St. Teresa, &c., will 
be hailed with delight by all good Catholics. 

The Ordinary of the Mass includes all the proper 
prefaces in Latin and English. 

The Vespers includes proper psalms, /or every feast in 
the year, and each psalm is accompanied by its appropriate 



THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM. 

BAR OF MUSIC, placed neatly and conspicuously over the page^ 
which is a new and attractive feature in the history of Manu- 
als of devotion. 

The Vespers of the Blessed Virgin are presented una- 
bridged, and these together with Maxims for every day 
IN THE month, Epistles and Gospels for every Sun- 
day and Holiday of obligation throughout the year, in- 
structions for the sick and dying, a choice selection of 
hymns in Latin and English, a section on devotion for 
the souls in Purgatory, and reason for becoming a Catholic, 
make this at once the most comprehensive and solid Catho- 
lic prayer book that has yet appeared, whilst the excel- 
lence of its mechanical execution renders it unrivaled in 
elegance and beauty. 

In conclusion, this work has not been got up in haste. 
It has now been fully a year in passing through the press, 
and has been revised and corrected with scrupulous care 
and will, we have no doubt, be deemed worthy the title of 
STAR OF EETHLEHEM. 

The following index has been appended so that persons 
may have a correct idea of what this prayer book con- 
tains before purchasing it. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



A. PAGE. 

Abridgment of the Chris- 
tian Doctrine xxviii 

Act of Adoration 47 

"contrition 48 

"another 53 

" the love of God 16 

" hope and confidence in 

God 66 

" resignation and love.. 58 

Acts of Faith, Hope and 

Charity 47 

" shorter 49 

Admonition to those who 

attend the dying,... 276 

AoNirs Dei — a Prayer to be 
said daily by those who 
carry an 473 

Angelus Domini 37 

Anima Christi 162 

Apostles' Creed 33 

Association of the Holy 
and Immaculate Heart 
of Mary 439 

Ave iVIaria, or Angelical 
Salutation 32 

B. 

Baptism — Sacrament of 152 

Benediction of the Blessed 

Sacrament 685 

" })riiycr after 614 

" of a woman after child- 
birth 305 



Blessed SACRAjviEitT — page 

Benediction of 685 

" ejaculatory prayers to 

the 387 

" ejaculations in honour 

of 387 

" little office of 474 

Blessed Virgin — Chaplet 

of the seven dolours of 448 
" Immaculate Concep- 
tion of 481 

" compendium of the 

virtues of 630 

" conceived without sin. 407 

" litany of 59 

" little chapter of 664 

" meditations on the Se- 
ven Dolours of 426 

" office of the 462 

" prayer for the feast of 

the espousals of 516 

" visitation 519 

" presentation 525 

"of St. Aloysius to. ... 422 

" for a happy death 411 

" entering your room 

and going out 412 

" for all virtues, espe- 
cially purity 413 

** in honor of the seven 
founders of the order 

of servants of 436 

" for devotion to 4S6 

** practices in honour of. 414 



IV 



INDEX. 



Blessed Virgix — Rosary of 415 

" seven dolours of 449 

" earthly joys of 449 

"heavenly " 449 

" sorrows of 423 

*' vespers of fi55 

"way of asking the 
blessing of 445 



Calendar, Roman xi 

Canon of the Mass 112 

Chaplet of the Immaculate 

Conception 481 

Chaplet of the seven do- 
lours of B. V. M 44S 

" St. Joseph 496 

Christian Doctrine, abridg- 
ment of xxviii 

Commendation of Blessed 

Sacrament 481 

Compendium of virtues of 

the Blessed Virgin 630 

Communion — PrayerS be- 
fore 224 

" after ... 226 

" instructions on 156 

" thoughts for those 

who go often to 170 

Confession — How to go to. 209 

" preparation for 175 

" prayers after 210 

" thoughts on ... 219 

" some rules for those 
who go every week or 

fifteen days to 222 

'* examination of con- 
science to be used for 

a general 179 

Confirmation — Sacrament 

of 154 

Confiteor Deo, or general 

confession 34 

Conscience, Examination 

of 174 

" another 203 

" prayer alter examina- 
tion of 208 



Contrition — A ct of 48 

Corporal Works of Mer- 
cy xxxi 

Creed of Pope Pius IV 626 



Daily examination of Con- 
science 22 

Days of Abstinence from 

Flesh Meat xxvi 

Dead— Mass for the 501 

Death — Preparation for the 
last Friday in each 

month 289 

" devotions for a happy. 291 

Dies Ira3 508 

Devotion to the Blessed 

Child Jesus 44 

" for a happy death 291 

" to the agonizing heart 

of Jesus 285 

" to the Sacred Heart of 

Jesus 361 

" to the Sacred Heart of 

Mary 441 

Devout offering to the Sa- 
cred Heart 404 

DyiNG — Prayers for the 570 

" short acts for the 273 

*' admonition to those 
who attend the 276 



Ejaculations 64 

Eight Beatitudes xxv 

" in honor of the B. V. 

Mary 387 

Ejaculatory prayers to the 

B. Sacrament 387 

Epistles and Gospels for 
the Sundays and Holi- 
days throughout the 

year 632 

Evangelical Counsels.. . xxxii 

Evening Prayers 51 

Examination of conscience 174 

" another method 203 

" on the Commandments 179 



EXAMIKATION OF CONSCIENCE 

prayer after 208 

' Extreme Unction — Sacra- 
ment of 264 

" prayer while receiving 270 

F. 
Feasts and Fasts — Table 

of xxiii-xxiv 

Festivals — Vespers on.... 571 
Form of admission to the 
confraternity of the Sa- 
cred Heart of Jesus 385 

G. 

Grace before meat 406 

"after 406 

H. 

Hail Mary 32 

Happy Death - Devotions 

for a 291 

Holy P^ucharist 156 

Holy Communion — Tho'ts 
for those who go often 

to 170 

•' prayers before 224 

"after 226 

How to hear Mass 166 

" to go to Confession 209 

" to prepare for the 

Priest when sick 275 

Hymn for the Epiphany.. . 691 

" of Assumption 613 

" for Christmas 590 

" for Easter 596 

•' for Lent 594 

" for Passion Tide 595 

" for Pentecost 598 

" of the Most Holy Name 

of Jesus 594 

"totheB. V. M 69 

" in honor of St. Joseph. 610 

" for a Confessor 609 

" of St. Thomas Aquinas 606 

Hymns — Latin Titles. 

Adeste Fideles 690 



Adoro te Devote 606 

Alma Pvedemptoris Mater. 548 

Ave Maris Stella 565 

Ave Regina Ccelorum . . . . 550 

Ave Verum 588 

Dies Irae 508 

Eja mea Labia 451 

Hac die Laetus 609 

Iste Confessor Domini 609 

Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem.. 603 
Lucis Creator Optime ... 543 

O Filii et Filiae 596 

O Salutaris Hostia 586 

O Sanctissima 589 

Pange, Lingua 602 

Panis Angelicus 587 

Quicumque Sanus Vivere. 610 

Regina Coeli Lsetare 551 

Salve, Area Foederis 456 

Salve, Horologium 459 

Salve, Mundi Domina 452 

Salve, Regina 36 

Salve, Virgo Florens 461 

Salve Virgo Puerpera 457 

Salve, Virgo Sapiens 454 

Sine Labe Concepta 592 

Stabat Mater 430 

Supplices Oflirimus 462 

Tantum Ergo Sacramen 

turn 586 

Te Deura Laudamus 615 

Te Lucis ante Terminum. 52 

Veni Creator Spiritus 598 

Veni Sancte Spiritus 599 

H YMN s — English Titles. 
Bethlehem of noblest Ci« 

ties 591 

Bright Mother of our Ma- 
ker 565 

Come, my Lips, and wide 

proclaim 451 

Come, O Creator o93 

Down in Adoration falling 586 
Forth comes the Standard. 595 
Hail, Ark of the Covenant 46;") 

Hail, City of Refuge 458 

Hail, Dial of Achaz 459 



VI 



INDEX. 



Hail, Floaiishing Virgin.. 470 
Hall, Lady of the World.. 462 
Hail, Mary, Queen of Hea- 
venly Spheres 550 

H'lil, Aiother most Pure.. 461 
Hail, Mother and Virgin. . 466 
Hail, Queen of the Hea- 
vens . 452 

Hail. Real Body of our 

Lord oSS 

Hail, Solomon's Throne. .. 456 
Hail, Virgin most Pru;lent 464 
Hail, Virgin mo;^t Wise.. . 454 

Hail, Virginal Mother 457 

He on the final Supper 

Night 476 

Holy Spirit, Lord of Light 599 
Hymn of the Immaculate 
Conception, by Father 

Faber 592 

Jesus, Redeemer of the 

World 590 

Jesu, the very Thought of 

Thee ^ 594 

Mary, sweet Star 69 

Mother of Jesus 543 

O Come all ye Faithful 590 

O Great Creator of the 

Light 543 

O Godhead hid 606 

O Holy Mother of our God 589 

O purest of Creatures 592 

O Queen of Heaven 551 

O Saving Victim . . 586 

On us bestowed, for us by 

Birth 476 

Sing, sing, ye Angel Bands 613 
Sion. lift thy Voice and 

sing 603 

The Angelic Bread 478 

The Bread of Angels 537 

The Confessor of Christ,.. 609 

The Incarnate Word 477 

This Day receives 609 

Thou Loving Maker 594 

To Father and the Son 430 

To thi ■ Great Sacrament.. 479 
We Praise Thee, O God... 615 



Ye that would Live 612 

Ye Sons and Daughters... 596 

L 

I.MMACQLATE CONCEPTION — 

Chaplet of 481 

" hvmn of, by Father Fa- 
ber 692 

" little office of 451 

INDULGEXCK3 — lustructions 

on 228 

Indulgence attached to a 
prayer for the dead . . . 500 
" for prayer before a pic- 
ture of the Sacred 

Heart 386 

'* resignation to the will 

of God 231 

" teaching Catechism . . 233 

"the last 278 

Instructions on Holy Mass 74 
Invocations to the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus 377 

J. 

Jb3us — Litany of the Holy 

Name of 40 

'* Hymn of tlie Holy 

Name of 594 

" devotion to the Child. 44 
" Agonizing Heart of. . . 285 
" The Sacred Heart of. . 361 
" exercise during Mass 

in union with 339 

" practices in honor of. . 375 

"invocations to 377 

•' Act of Consecration to 378 
" act of love to, by Ven. 

M. M. Alacoque 381 

" prayer of St. Gertrude 

to the Sacred Heart of. 382 
" Act of reparation to.. 382 
" visit to the Sacred 

Heart of 384 

" form of admission to 

the confraternity of.. . 385 
" indulgence for prayer 

before a picture of 386 



INDEX. 



VU 



*' a visit to the Sacred 

Heart of 401 

•' another 402 

*' a devout offering to... 404 

L. 

Last Agony 284 

Last Indulgence 278 

Litany of the Blessed Vir- 
gin Mary 59 

Litany of the Holy Name 

of Jesus 40 

Litany of the Saints 247 

Little Chapter of the B. 

Virgin 564 

Little Office of the Blessed 

Sacrament 474 

Little Office of the Imma- 
culate Conception. ..... 451 

Lord 's Prayer 32 

M. 
Magnificat, or Canticle of 

theB. V. M 645-568 

Mary — Association of the 
Holy and Immaculate 

Heart of. 439 

" conceived without sin, 407 
" devotions to the Sacred 

Heart of 441 

'• act of reparation to. . . 444 
*' prayer of St. Gertrude 
to the Sacred Heart of 444 

Mass — Instructions on 74 

" canon of 112 

" ordinary of 76 

" another method of 

hearing 138 

" how to hear 166 

♦' for the Dead 501 

" of the Sacred Heart of 

Jesus 389 

Matrimoivy — The Sacra- 
ment of 298 

" ritual for the celebra- 
tion of 301 

Maxims for every day in 

the month 619 



Maxims on prayer 14 

Meditation — Instructions 

on 17 

Memorare 410 

Morning Prayer 25 

" shorter form of 32 

" fora little child 39 

Movable Feasts xxiii 

" Fasts xxiv 

N. 

NovENAS — Instructions on. 404 
Novena to St. Joseph 488 

O. 

Offering of sleep and wak- 
ing 65 

Office of the B. V. M 462 

Orders — Sacrament of 295 

P. 

Passion of Christ 309 

" the Scapular of the.. . 445 
Penance— The Sacrament 

of 172 

Practices in honor of the 

Sacred Heart of Jesus.. 375 
Prayer — Instructions on.. 7 
Prayer after Benediction. . 614 

" Holy Communion 226 

" before " 224 

" for Christian courage 

and fortitude 214 

" the dead 55 

" the dying 570 

" holy Mass in union 
with the Sacred Heart 

of Jesus 389 

" peace 55 

" time of famine and pes- 
tilence 58 

" of pestilence 68 

'* perseverance in good 

ness 618 

" the souls suffering in 

purgatory 497 

" maxims on 14 



VI 11 



INDEX. 



" of St. Gertrude to the 

Sacred Heart of Jesus. 382 
*' In honor of the seven 
founders of the order 
of Servants of the 

Blessed Virgin 436 

" of St Gertrude to the 

Sacred Heart of Mary. 444 
" Aloy^ius to the Bless- 
ed Vlr<2jin -. 422 

"on a journey 64 

"to St. Anna'. 488 

"St. Joachim 488 

" St. Joseph 485 

" for devotion to the B. 

V. M 486 

"Teresa 484 

Prayers, devout and profit- 

ble for the dying 279 

" after the Soul has de- 
parted 284 

" while receiving the sa- 
crament of Extreme 
Unction 207 

Prayers of Feasts. 

Prayer for the Feast of the 
espousals of the B. V. 

Mary 516 

" of St. Francis of Sales. 516 

"St. Patrick 516 

" Gabriel the Archangel 517 

" St. Joseph 517 

" St Catherine of Sienna 517 
" St. John Nepomucen .. 517 
" Bernardine of Sienna. 518 
"B.V. M. Help of Chris- 
tians 518 

^' St. Philip Neri 518 

•• Anthony of Padua 519 

" St. Aloysius 519 

*' St. Peter and St. Paul.. 519 
" Visitation of the B. V. 

Mary 519 

" B. V. M. of Mount Car- 

mel 5' 

" St. Vincent of Paul... ' 



" St James the Apostle.. 520 
" St. Anne (Mother of 

the B. V. M.) 521 

" St. Dominic 621 

" St. Laurence 521 

" St. Bartholomew 521 

" St. Rose of Lima ...'. 522 
" Stigmas of St. Francis 522 
" The Holy Angel Guar- 
dians 522 

" St. Bridget 523 

" St. Dionysius and Com- 
panions, Martyrs 523 

" St. Peter of Alcantara. 523 

" St. Raphael 523 

"All Saints 524 

"All Souls 524 

" St. Gertrude 524 

" Presentation of the B. 

V. M 525 

"St. Cecelia 625 

" St. Catherine 626 

"St. Michael 527 

Prayer of St. Philip Neri 

to' the B. V. M 411 

" to the B. V. M. for a 

happy death 411 

" St. Bernard to the B. V. 

Mary 418 

" St. Aloysius " 422 

" by the devout Blosius. 436 

•' on a journey 64 

Feast of St. Francis Xavier 513 

"Nicholas 613 

" Holy House of Loretto 513 

" the Nativity 514 

" St. Stephen 514 

" St. John. Apostle and 

Evangelist 514 

" of the Holy Innocents. 514 
" Circumcision of our 

Lord 615 

"Epiphany 515 

" St. Agues 516 

" St. Thomas of Canter- 
bury 615 

Preface 1 



IX 



Prei)aration for death for 
t le last Friday of each 

month ;. 289 

P ^: MS IN La ;in aivd Exgltsh. 
CIX. Dixit D ominus— The 

i.ord said 531-545 

ex. Confiteor Tibi Domini 
I will praise Thee, O 

Lord 530 

CXI. Beatus Vir— Blessed 

is the man 534 

CXII Laudate Pueri Domi- 
num-— Praise the Lord ye 

children 535 — 557 

CXIII. In Exitu Israel— 
When Israel went out of 

E^ypt 538 

CXVI. Laudate Dominum 

— O Praise the Lord 542 

CXXI. Loetatus Sum — 1 

was glad 559 

CXXTl. Nisi Dominus — 

Ifniess the Lord 5G1 

CXLVII, Lauda Jerusalem 
Pominum — Praise the 

Lord, O Jerusalem 562 

CXV Credidi— I have be- 

iiove 1 571 

(;XXV In Convertendo 
Djininus — Wlien the 

Loni, &c.. ... 573 

CXXXVIIL Domine, pro- 
basti me— Lord, Thou 

hast proved me 574 

CXXXI Memento Domine 

— () fvord, remember. ... 578 
CXXIX. De Profundis cla- 
m ivi — Out of the depths 

&c 239-592 

CXXVIL Beati omnes— 

iUe.ssed arc all 584 

XLII. Judica me Deus — 

ludsjc me, O God 79 

CII. Ble.s the Lord 215 

LXXXIV. Lord, Thou hast 

blessed Thy Land 217 

XXVL The Lord is my 
Lijjht 226 I 



VI. O Lord rebuke me not 234 
XXXI. Blessed are they.. 235 
XXXVII. Rebuke me not, 

O Lord 237 

CIXLI. Hear, O Lord, my 

Prayer 240 

L. Have mercy on me 242 

CI. Hear, O Lord, my Pray- 
er 245 

LXIX. Deus in Adjuto- 
rium — O God, come to 

my aid 2-57 

L. Miserere Mei Deus — 
Have mercy on me, O 
God 502 

R. 

Reasons for becoming a 

Catholic 623 

Recordare 411 

Rosary of the B. V. M 415 

S. 
Sacramevts Instructions 

on the 150 

"of Baptism 152 

" of Confirmation 154 

" of Holy h:ucharist ... 156 

" of Penance 172 

" of Extreme Unction... 264 

"of Holy Orders 295 

"Matrimony 293 

Salve Begina .36 

Scapular of .viount Carmel 420 
" Bull of Pope John 

XXII , regarding. 421 

" the Sacred Heart of 

Jesus and Mary, and 

of the Passion 445 

Seven Deadly Sins and the 

opposite Virtue^.... xxxii 
" Dolours of the Blessed 

Virgin 426 

" gifts of the Holy Ghost xxx 

" Penitential Psalms 234 

" Sacraments xxx 

Short Prayers of St Grego- 
ry on the Passion 311 



3 



Sickness — Instructions on. 270 
Sins against the Holy- 
Ghost xxxii 

" crying to Heaven for 

vengeance xxxii 

Six Precepts of the 

Church xxix 

Sorrows of the B. V. M.... 423 
Souls ix Purgatory — 

Prayers for 497 

Spiritual and Corporal... xxxi 

Stab at Mater 430 

Stations of the Cross 329 

Subjects for daily Medita- 
tion xxxiii 

T. 

Tantum Ergo 5fi6 

" another translation 446 

Te Deum Laudamus 615 

Thoughts for those who 
go often to Holy Commu- 
nion 170 



Thoughts on Confession. 219 
Three devouj: and profita- 
ble Prayers 279 

Three Theological Vir- 
tues XXX 

Three Eminent Good 
Works xxxii 

Twelve Fruits of the Holy 
Ghost XXX 

V. 

Vespers 528 

Vespers of the B. V. M. 555 

" on Festivals 571 

" for Christmas Day. . . . 582 

Visit to the Sacred Heart 

of Jesus 384 

" another 401 

"another 402 

W. 
Way of the Cross 325 




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